EDO4860 - A37 Western Link Road; Trench F

Wessex Archaeology undertook a programme of archaeological evaluation and excavation along the line of the A37 Western Link road in advance of road construction, between Autumn 1987 to March 1988. Trench F was originally a machine-cut trial trench measuring 25m by 5m, which was then enlarged to 28m by 10m, prior to any archaeological excavation. It lay immediately to the south of excavation trench G/H and many of the features could be traced through into this larger excavation trench. The earliest features revealed were a small ditch, a series of hollows and colluvial deposits and lynchets dating to the Bronze Age. An early Roman (1st century AD) L-shaped ditch and an early Roman sunken-floored structure were found cut through the prehistoric colluvium. The trench was crossed by a hollow way. A series of five Durotrigian burials -- four inhumations and a cremation were also found. A late Roman terrace was found cut into the slope.