SWX8162 - Land to the rear of 58 West Street, Corfe Castle, Dorset. Archaeological Evaluation Report

Wessex Archaeology was commissioned by Raglan Housing to undertaken an archaeological evaluation on land proposed for development to the rear of 58, West Street, Corfe Castle in Dorset, hereafter referred to as ‘the Site’. Raglan Housing has received conditional planning permission to build a Doctors Surgery, housing and associated parking, The evaluation was required as a condition on the planning permission to ascertain whether the Site has any archaeological significance. The Site, centred on Ordnance Survey National Grid Reference 395918178, comprises an area of approximately 0.25ha (Figure 1). It is situated immediately to the rear of 58 West Street and immediately south of West Street Car park on the western fringes of Corfe Castle village. Currently, the Site contains a paddock and part of a private garden belonging to 58 West Street. Prehistoric barrows are common around Corfe Castle and Roman remains are present beneath Castle Hill and on West Hill at Corfe Castle. The medieval settlement spread out for the gate of the castle along East Street and West Street. The Site lies behind West Street where small enclosures known as ‘Hawes’ lie between the houses on the road frontage and fields to the west. Therefore it was considered that any development might have an impact on archaeological remains and an evaluation was called form as part of the planning process. Two trenches were excavated to determine the archaeological potential of the Site. Trench 1 revealed three ditches (Figures 1 and 2). Two aligned east-west and a third aligned north-south. From this latter ditch , half a shale lathe core was recovered. For the size of archaeological features, a considerable amount of pottery dating to the Medieval period was recovered form all of the ditches. These ditches may form part of an enclosure system, perhaps enclosing or adjacent to settlement. Trench 2 revealed four features (Figures 1 and 2), two north-south possible ditches and two possible postholes. The postholes may be the remains of a former fence line dividing the paddock into tow smaller east-west aligned fields. The features contained a darker fill, very similar to the subsoil and topsoil, with material dating from the Medieval or Post-Medieval period in the form of pottery, animal bone and slag, these features may be evidence of activity relating to the land use in the post-medieval period. The results of the evaluation suggest the Site contains a high density of Medieval archaeological features perhaps adjacent to settlement. The proposed development is likely to have a profound impact on archaeological remains.