EDO5681 - Marshes End, Creekmoor, Poole: observations and recording 2007

A watching brief was undertaken during the groundworks for the construction of a new fire station at Marshes End, Creekmoor, Poole, in 2007. This area was formerly part of the mudflats at the northern end of Holes Bay. The land was reclaimed in the 1980s for the construction of the present Holes Bay Road (A350) and Dorset Way (A3049). A site visit was made by Steven Tatler of Terrain Archaeology on 26 September 2007. Prior to the archaeological observations, there had already been significant groundworks undertaken on the site. The topsoil and the upper c. 0.5 m of the reclamation deposits had been removed, and a layer of mixed building rubble was imported to the site and spread across the whole area to a depth of about 0.5 m, to provide a stable base for piling operations. Piling for the new building, using displacement piles had also taken place. At the time of the site visit, ring beam trenches up to 0.5 m deep were being excavated between the piles. The beam trenches for the westernmost building had been excavated and the steels were being constructed. The ring beams for this building did not penetrate beneath the layer of imported material. The excavation of a 0.6 m wide trench along the northern edge of the site to create a barrier to stop contamination from the landfill entering the adjoining property, was observed. The trench was excavated to a depth of up to two metres and revealed about one metre of recent Made Ground overlying the 1980s landfill deposits. No sign of undisturbed ground was encountered. As a result of these observations, which revealed an extremely low potential for exposing archaeologically or palaeoenvironmentally significant features or deposits, the watching brief was halted after one visit. No in situ archaeological or palaeoenvironmental deposits were observed during the watching brief. Geotechnical work on the site had indicates that Made Ground existed across the site to a depth of between 0.9 m and 3.0 m. This represents the 1980s reclamation deposits. The groundworks did not impinge below that level.