EDO5697 - Merley Youth Club site, Chichester Walk, Merley, Poole; desk-based assessment 1995

A desk-based assessment of the Merley Youth Club site was undertaken by AC archaeology in 1995. This assessment revealed that the area is likely to have been part of open-field arable land, and possibly part of the rectorial holding of Bradenstoke Priory (Wiltshire), in the medieval period. The area was probably enclosed at an early date, and field boundaries in the area were again altered during the 19th century. No evidence has been found on cartographic sources for buildings on the site, nor in the wider area between Oakley Lane and Merley Lane, until modern residential development took place. Surface features present on the site at the time of the survey include faint traces of linear earthworks and areas of disturbance around the location of reported earthwork mounds. None of these can be shown to be archaeological in origin. The desk-based assessment was supplemented by geophysical survey and excavation of evaluation trenches.