Monument record MDO2429 - Bronze Age ring ditch, Sherborne Abbey Primary School, Lenthay Road, Sherborne

A possible Bronze Age ring ditch of 19m diameter was identified during a geophysical survey at the Sherborne Abbey Primary School replacement site. Lenthay Road. A subsequent evaluation confirmed the presence of curving ditches in Trench 2, but no datable finds were recovered.

Southern Archaeological Services conducted an archaeological evaluation on land at the western end of Lenthay Road in advance of the proposed building of the Sherborne Abbey Primary School replacement site between 12 and 19 January 1998. Nine trenches… were excavated by JCB. Two possible ring features 15-19m in diameter,initially identified through geophysical survey, may be the ploughed out remains of Bronze Age round barrows. Trench 2 measured 30m x 1.8m, was aligned N-S and was located in the NE corner of the proposed western playing field. Six linears and eight discrete features were recorded within the trench, all cut into the natural and sealed beneath the topsoil which contained a single sherd of 13th-14th century pottery. One of the linears [207] matched fairly well with a possible ring ditch identified through gradiometer survey. This was cut by a later land drain. [207] was a slightly curved feature 15-16m from the NE end of the trench. It was 2.20m wide and 0.52m deep. It had two fills; a dark yellowish-brown silty clay loam, and a light olive-broen sandy clay loam. A stained area was also noted, 2-3m from the NE end of the trench which may represent the truncated remains of the north side of the ring ditch. the ring ditch was shown in the gradiometer survey to be 18m in diameter, which ties in with the excavated features, except that the latter appear to be 2m to the north of the former. This seems to represent the ploughed out remains of a Bronze Age round barrow, although no datable finds were recovered.

Record last edited

Oct 11 2022 12:57PM