EDO4862 - A37 Western Link Road; Trench K

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 K was a large trench excavated to the north of Trench G/H and was investigated in order to try to define the northern limits of the Roman activity found in that trench. This trench was largely situated along a terrace. The earliest features found on this terrace were the remains of two Bronze Age houses. At the southern end of the trench were the remains of a small cemetery comprising fourteen crouched inhumation burials arranged around a small cemetery structure. A further four contemporary burials were found scattered further to the north. The cemetery appears to have continued in use into the later 1st and 2nd century with the insertion of five more burials. At the northern end of the trench were a series of pits and other features on the terrace, dated to the 1st-2nd century AD. In the 3rd-4th century AD, a series of eight structures and a number of pits were found along the terrace. These were poorly preserved and not fully excavated. A single late Roman burial was also found.