EDO6570 - Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment (RCZA) for South-West England - South Coast Dorset; aerial photograph interpretation

An archaeological survey involving the systematic interpretation, mapping and recording of archaeological sites from aerial photographs and lidar of a coastal and riverine strip of land in Dorset covering 265 square kilometres. The project forms component one of the South-West England Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment (Dorset to Hampshire).The primary aim of the NMP component of the project was to provide a rapid baseline survey of the Dorset coast and thereby enhance understanding of the range of historic assets there in order to facilitate assessments of their significance and permit effective management of the resource. The project provided significant enhancement to existing baseline data through the mapping, interpretation and recording of 1734 archaeological sites of which 1303 were new sites, previously unrecorded in the Dorset HER. The systematic recording of military sites, particularly using the RAF vertical photographs taken during and soon after the war, has proved highly informative with many significant sites relating to the anti-invasion defences of this stretch of the Dorset coast being recorded for the first time.