SDO21704 - Land off Portland Bill Road, Southwell, Dorset. Gradiometer Survey Report

‘A gradiometer survey was conducted over land off Portland Bill Road, some 0.75km SSE of the centre of Southwell, Dorset. The project was commissioned by AC Archaeology with the aim of establishing the presence, or otherwise, and nature of detectable archaeological features on the site ahead of proposed development. The site is located on a gentle southeast facing slope close to the southern edge of Southwell, some 9.5km south of the centre of Weymouth. The survey area measures approximately 1.9ha and of this a total of 1.67ha has been covered by geophysical survey. A possible trackway associated with limestone extraction has been identified along with two short ditch sections and a large pit of possible archaeological interest. The remaining responses detected include numerous agricultural features and trends of uncertain origin. The survey was undertaken by the Lefort Geophysics survey team on the 16th of October and the 12th of November 2021.’