SWX8748 - Daler Site, East Street, Wareham, Dorset. Archaeological Watching Brief

In April 1996 Wessex Archaeology was instructed by Ken Morgan Architects, on behalf of Priest Associates, to undertaken an archaeological watching brief at the former Daler works site, East Street, Wareham, centred on SU 9254 8748. The watching brief was undertaken as a condition of planning permission for the residential development of the site. The condition required the implementation of an archaeological watching brief during demolition and construction works and followed the advice of the County Archaeologist Officer that important buried remains may occur at the site. The Daler works site lies on the north side of East Street, Wareham, and covers an irregular area of approximately 0.18 ha. The development works involved the demolition of the former Daler works buildings, including the removal of the concrete floor slabs, followed by the construction of 12 residential units and associated services within the site. In common with other recent archaeological investigations in the east of Wareham, a deep, black soil was recorded across the Daler site. This soil was probably of post-Medieval origin. The one feature recorded during the observation work, an unmortared wall, was cut through the dark soil. It is, therefore, likely to be of post-Medieval or later date and probably represents a property or garden wall. The absence of evidence for Medieval features, deposits and finds suggests that the Daler site lies beyond the extent of the Medieval occupation of the town. The deep soils on the site, however, attest to gardening and agricultural activities possibly in the Medieval period and certainly in the post-Medieval period.