SWX8296 - Report on a desk-based assessment of the archaeology of land off Rosemary Lane, Abbotsbury, Dorset. May 2000

Southern Archaeological Services Ltd of Southampton conducted a desk-based assessment of the archaeology of the area around Rosemary Lane, Abbotsbury, Dorset (NGR SY 5784 8538), using documentary sources held in various archives, in order to inform the planning process in advance of a planning application for a residential development comprising four flats, with fourteen parking spaces for existing properties and for the proposed development. the assessment was commissioned b=by Lawray Partnership, Chartered Architects, on behalf f the Ilchester Estate. The assessment showed that the site lies in an area of known prehistoric, Saxon and Mediaeval settlement, although there is no evidence for use of the site itself, other than for agriculture and allotments, before 20th century. Documentary and cartographic evidence show that the street pattern and property boundaries of the village of Abbotsbury have changed very much since the parish church and market were laid out in the 13th century. The site lies in the older, eastern part of Abbotsbury, close to areas of known archaeological significance, but the archaeological potential of the site itself is unknown, as very little archaeological fieldwork has been done in Abbotsbury. The site lies at a height of about 50m above OD, and the geology (according top the British Geological Survey) is Kimmeridge Clay.