EDO5614 - SCATS countrystore, Grove Trading Estate, Dorchester; observations and recording 2009

Terrain Archaeology carried out an archaeological watching brief during the groundworks for refurbishment and alteration of SCATS Countrystore. This includes the construction of a new porch, pedestrian ramp and service infrastructure on the western side of the store, excavation of a new service trench and ground reduction for a new retaining wall and temporary car park. Two trenches (Area 1 and Area 2) were mechanically stripped using a tracked 360-degree excavator. Initial clearing and was undertaken using a toothed bucket, while further excavation used a toothless ditching bucket. Where necessary, these were cleaned by hand. The mechanical excavation of the new service trench was also observed. The first trench, Area 1, was a rectangular trench 30m long by 4-4.5m wide. The majority of the previously un-investigated areas of this trench had been destroyed by by a deep drain trench and construction of an access chamber. The remaining strip of land revealed no additional archaeological data. Area 2 contained a sub-triangular trench measuring 17.5m long, and up to 9m wide and contained several features. Area 3 contained the service trench, measuring about 0.9m wide and up to 1m deep. No new archaeological finds or features were recovered.