EDO6843 - Poole Railway Station and Goods Yard; evaluation 2004

Evaluation of an area of about 2.508 ha allocated for mixed use development in the Poole Local Plan. The evaluation consissted of the excavation by machine of one trench measuring 18m by 2.1m and orientated approximately east-north-east/west-south-west across the south-eastern corner of the site. This revealed made ground to a depth of around 1.25m, in four distinct layers, all related to the raising of ground levels before the railway and associated infrastructure were built in the later 19th century. The made ground sat on alluvium that was at least 1.5m thick. Cut into the surface of the alluvium and sealed beneath the made ground were a number of shallow archaeological features. Most of these were ditches, and appeared to represent elements of a rectangular network; this was thought likely to have been for drainage of the marshy ground to allow seasonal grazing. Sparse dating evidence suggested a late medieval date for these ditches. A small pit and possible posthole dug into the end of one of the ditches were recorded, and a small ditch on a different alignment. The archaeologists on site felt that the lack of any former ground surface above the alluvium, and the shallowness of the features cut into it, indicated that the area had been stripped of topsoil and possibly also of subsoils before the ground was made up.