SDO9909 - Poundbury Development, Dorchester (Offsite Planting), Summary Report on Archaeological Assessment

The Duchy of Cornwall commissioned Wessex Archaeology to carry out a field assessment during January and February 1991 on land to the south west of Dorchester in advance of the planting of native hardwood trees and bushes in selected areas. Three areas were assessed through machine cut trenching; west of Bush Cottage, Maiden Castle Road; East of Maiden Castle car park; and east of the A35 by-pass and north of Maiden Castle Road. A 30m x 2m trench was excavated parallel to Maiden Castle Road, 5m south of the fence line in a pasture field west of Bush Cottage. No archaeological features were identified although three struck flint flakes were recovered from the topsoil. A 50m x 2m trench was excavated 5m east of the fence line at Maiden Castle Car Park. No archaeological features were identified and no artefacts recovered. A 50m x 2m trench, aligned approximately NW-SE, was excavated some 15m north of the Maiden Castle Road fence line in the angle formed by Maiden Castle Road and the A35 bypass. At the northern end of the trench, below 0.3m of topsoil, two shallow E-W aligned ditches, probably of Roman date, were revealed. The northern ditch measured 1.4m wide and 0.2m deep, it had possibly been recut and contained 3 pieces of worked flint an oyster shell and a fragment of iron in its fill. The second ditch was 0.9m wide, 0.1m deep and contained 2 pieces of worked flint and a sherd of Roman pottery. These features are part of an extensive cropmark complex which lies mainly to the west of the site, it is a scheduled ancient monument and was partially excavated during construction of the bypass.