SDO11446 - An Archaeological Evaluation on the Site of a Proposed Residential Development to the rear of Lodden Bridge Farm, Gillingham, Dorset (ST 8155 2630)

An archaeological field evaluation of land to the rear of Lodden Bridge Farm, Gillingham was carried out by AC Archaeology during early March 1999. The site lies on a south-east facing ridge, which then slopes to low-lying ground on the north side of the River Lodden. The site lies at around 80m OD, the underlying geology consisting of Kimmeridge clay. The evaluation comprised the machine-excavation of five trenches, amounting to an approximate 1.5% sample of the proposed development area. Most trenches contained largely negative results, with the exception of Trench 3, which contained a shallow linear feature, likely to represent the hedgerow of a former field-division when the land was divided into smaller field units. This corresponds with a boundary shown on 19th century maps of Gillingham. Two sherds of Medieval pottery were retrieved from this feature. This trench also contained a small area of charcoal and daub fragments lying immediately on top of natural subsoil; these appeared to be part of a dumped deposit rather than the fill of a cut feature. There were no artefacts of either modern or earlier date recovered from any of the other trenches.