SWX8699 - Railway Goods Shed Site, Sandford Lane, Wareham, Dorset, Archaeological Evaluation

In November 1995 Wessex Archaeology was commissioned by the Warner Baxter Practice to carry out an archaeological evaluation at the former Railway Goods Shed site, Sandford Lane, Wareham. The site lies on the north side of Wareham, a town of considerable archaeological importance. A church and associated settlement probably existed at Wareham from at least the 7th century and Wareham was a burh in the 10th century. The impressive defences of Wareham are scheduled as Ancient Monuments and the north town wall lies approximately 400m to the south of the Goods Shed site. Some 50m to the south of the site, a number of human burials, possibly of Roman date, and two possible roads, one of which may also be of Roman date, have been observed in recent years. The archaeological evaluation comprised the machine excavation of two trenches, which revealed a limited range of archaeological deposits, all of modern date. No evidence of burials or evidence for the two possible roads were observed. No evidence, either structural or artefactual, was recovered to indicate any activity at the site pre-dating the modern period.