EDO318 - Penny's Mead, Cranborne; evaluation 1987

The Trust for Wessex Archaeology was commissioned by English Heritage to carry out an evaluation of the Penny's Mead site, Cranborne during 1987 in advance of housing development. This work followed on from an excavation at 10 Penny's Mead in 1982 in which a late Saxon pit had been recorded. Geophysical survey proved unsuccessful, owing to interference from modern features. Seven trenches were dug, and two revealed evidence of human activity in the form of five sub-circular pits, one of which contained a late Neolithic flint assemblage. One of the pits contained sherds of medieval pottery in its upper fill. No further evidence of Middle Saxon occupation was found. The authors conclude that any major settlement of this period is likely to be in the field to the north, particularly as local residents recall observing quantities of occupation debris on the field surface after ploughing in the early 1900s.