SWX8194 - An Archaeological Watching Brief at Phase 2, Abbots Cottages, Corfe Castle, Dorset.

An archaeological watching brief was undertaken during June 1997, on the second phase of development at Abbots Cottages, East Street, Corfe Castle. This represents the third episode of archaeological monitoring and recording within the East Street development area, and completes the archaeological component of the scheme. The monitoring gave the opportunity to gain a more complete picture of the nature of any surviving archaeological remains, and in particular any activity associated with the Medieval town. The results of the 1997 work confirm the low density of previous archaeological activity within the development area. Evidence for three sub-surface features was found within the western area of Phase 2 - one post-Medieval rectilinear feature, and two gullies or ditches, one of which proved to be Medieval, whilst the other yielded no datable finds. The artefactual evidence was also of fairly low density - four sherds of Medieval pottery dating to the 12th - 14th centuries, including one lead glazed sherd, and two late Medieval early post-Medieval sherds of the 16 - 17th centuries were recovered from the topsoil (100) during machining, and two burnt, unglazed sherds - also Medieval - were recovered from the fill of ditch/gully [105]. All other artefacts dated to the post-Medieval period or later. In conclusion it can be observed that the Abbots Cottages development as a whole has had little impact on the archaeological resource in this area.