1 Abbey Walk, Shaftesbury, Dorset - Archaeological Watching Brief Report

The watching brief was undertaken intermittently between 11 July 2023 and 5 March 2024 and comprised the monitoring of a total of three trial pits, and the foundation trenches with an associated four foundation pads. These related to the erection of a single storey extension to the rear of the building. The trial pits and foundation trench/pads were excavated to the construction level which varied from 0.80 m and 2.00 m below ground level (bgl). The groundworks were carried out under constant archaeological supervision and using a 360� tracked excavator fitted, where possible, with a toothless grading bucket. The mechanical excavations proceeded in spits to the top of the archaeological horizon, or the construction level, whichever was encountered first. The attending archaeologist monitored all mechanical excavations within the specified area. Where necessary, the surfaces of uncovered archaeological deposits were cleaned by hand to aid visual definition. A sample of archaeological features and deposits was hand-excavated, sufficient to address the project aims. Spoil from machine stripping and hand-excavated archaeological deposits was visually scanned for the purposes of finds retrieval. Artefacts were collected and bagged by context. All artefacts from excavated contexts were retained, although those from features of modern date (19th century or later) were recorded on site and not retained. The archaeological monitoring revealed varying degrees of disturbance and truncation nearer to the house which were the result of later phases of remodelling and extension after it was first constructed in the late 19th century. The soil sequence further away from the house showed garden or topsoil deposits overlaying the natural geology at around 0.60 m bgl, with patches of possible subsoil noted. Three archaeological features were identified during the archaeological monitoring. A linear feature was encountered as the south-western end of the monitored works and seemed to be related to infilling or ground build-up of earlier terracing. Pottery recovered from this feature spanned from the 10th to 19th centuries AD. A wall and associated floor was recorded on the south-eastern side of the current house and relate to an earlier building. A further brick floor surface was noted on the southern corner of the house, and while constructed out of similar materials, may relate to the current house when it was in its original form.