Series: AC archaeology Ltd

An evaluation excavation at ‘At Last’, Salt Lane, Winterbourne Gunner, was undertaken in April 2013 to provide additional information prior to determining a planning application for a proposed new dwelling on the site. Two c. 10m long trenches were excavated. The application area lies close to the site of an extensive Anglo-Saxon cemetery on the north and west side of Salt Lane and was considered to have potential to contain further evidence for the cemetery. No features or artefacts of archaeological significance were present.

A record of a 1940s document store was prepared before its demolition. The building was constructed for a local firm of chartered surveyors and estate agents. The design incorporated a series of vents, and the building retained most of its original internal shelving.

The evaluation comprised two machine-dug trenches, both 25m long and 2m wide; a 3% evaluation of the application area. Three discrete features were identified in the two evaluation trenches – two postholes and one pit. While both postholes lacked dating evidence, Middle to Late Bronze Age pottery was recovered from the pit and it is feasible that the postholes may also be of prehistoric date.

A watching brief and recording of a boundary wall was undertaken during landscaping works at the rear of 1-11 Sidwell Street, Exeter. A 14th- or 15th-century boundary wall was recorded and removal of an earth bank behind the wall was monitored. A Saxo-Norman pit was exposed, and several other ditches and postholes may also be of early-medieval date. The earth bank largely comprised dumps of 18th- and 19-century material raising the ground level up within the site. Recording of the boundary wall confirmed observations made in 1994 that the majority of fabric related to the heightening of the wall when the adjacent ground level was raised. Limited evidence for a possible 19th-century building, attached to the side of the wall was also recorded.

An archaeological evaluation, consisting of four machine-excavated trenches totaling 75m in length, each 1.6m wide, was undertaken by AC archaeology Ltd on land at the rear of 1 – 4 West Street, Somerton, Somerset during January / February 2017. All four of the trenches revealed evidence for former truncation / levelling, probably as a result of the erection of buildings and other structures on the site during the 18th / 19th century and later date. A limited amount of archaeological activity was revealed, including probable former refuse or quarry pits of postmedieval origin and a remnant buried soil horizon of possible medieval date. A small quantity of artefacts of both post-medieval and medieval date was recovered from the evaluation.

An archaeological watching brief was undertaken during groundworks associated with the construction of a residential development located adjacent to the former town defences. Across all of the monitored areas 20th-century deposits were exposed overlying the natural. No archaeological deposits or features were exposed. No significant finds were present.

Archaeological monitoring was carried out by AC archaeology of the mechanical excavation of footing trenches for the construction of a terrace of four houses at the rear of 142-146 Blandford Road, Hamworthy, Poole

Archaeological monitoring and recording were undertaken in June and August 2018 during the groundworks associated with the construction of a single-storey extension to the rear 17 Icen Way, Dorchester, Dorset. The work was undertaken in compliance with a condition of planning consent where the monitoring involved the recording of footing trenches and associated groundworks. The archaeological monitoring at 17 Icen Way was limited by the scale of the development, although the results indicate the potential for further archaeological deposits to survive within this area of the town. The monitoring identified a former garden or horticultural soil (102) that produced a number of late medieval (13-14th century) artefacts, that included the majority of a Laverstock type jug and a scratched ware cooking pot. These vessels were excavated in-situ and indicated they remained undisturbed from later activities.

An archaeological evaluation, comprising a single hand-dug trial pit, was undertaken prior to the construction of an extension.

The investigation comprised the excavation and recording of a single trial pit, 1m x 1m in plan, representing a c.6% sample of the proposed construction area. The evaluation provided no evidence for archaeological interest in the site.