EDO6035 - Phase 2B, Brewery Square, Dorchester; strip, map and record excavation 2014

Observations and recording in several stages over four months to monitor all significant groundwork during Phase 2B of construction. Work began with the removal of concrete surfaces and infrastructure such as drains, associated with the former brewery. The area was stripped of overburden by machine using a toothed bucket then a toothless bucket at lower levels. The stratigraphic sequence across the site consisted of up to 0.75m of overburden consisting of rubble and compacted re-deposited chalk, sealing a layer of mixed chalk, rubble, flint and dark silty clay. This lay over a buried topsoil around 0.2m thick sealing a subsoil deposit around 0.2m deep directly on top of natural chalk. This sequence was the same as that observed in earlier evaluation trenches. A brick structure was recorded within the former brewery buildings. A small quantity of unstratified material was recovered from the buried topsoil; this comprised pottery, ceramic building material, clay pipes, glass and other material ranging from Romano-British to 20th century in date.