Watching Brief at Proposed Hut Replacement, Waterside Lane, Sydling St. Nicholas, Dorset

An area measuring c.1m by 1.4m was dug in the location of the proposed water shed. This was done by hand under the control and supervision of an Archaeologist. The excavations reached natural geology, with all finds recovered and retained. It was cleaned and photographed. The stratigraphic sequence was recorded and sections drawn. The excavations revealed that the river has man-made artificial banks or levies built up from at the earliest the 18th but likely all raised in the 20th century. This could indicate that the weir was also built around that period. The only features encountered were late 20th or early 21st century features cut into he made ground to build either a revetment for the protection of the levies or as part of a previous fence-line to control entry.