EDO3775 - Red Cow Farm, Dorchester, Trench 2

An archaeological field evaluation of a parcel of land at Red Cow Farm, St George’s Road, Dorchester, was carried out by AC archaeology during June 2004. The site lies on the eastern fringe of Dorchester, on land to the west of the by-pass, immediately adjacent to the River Frome. The evaluation comprised the machine-excavation of twelve trenches. Trench 2 was aligned E-W in the eastern half of the site and measured 15m x 1.6m. It was excavated by machine to a depth of 0.25m. Four intercutting ditches were found. Two very shallow parallel ditches about 0.4m wide and about 0.05m deep were found aligned WSW-ENE. A small quantity of worked flint and animal bone was recovered from them. The eastern end of these two ditches was cut by a N-S ditch about 1m wide and 0.5m deep with sloping sides and flat base. This ditch also contained a small quantity of worked flint and animal bone. Another ditch 0.4m wide oriented NE-SW was found to the east, but its relationship with the other ditches could not be determined. No finds were recovered from it. The scale of these ditches suggests that they may be field boundary ditches. Not enough of the ditch system(s) was exposed to fully understand them and they are not well-dated. They may be prehistoric or medieval in date.