SDO11575 - Results of an Archaeological Evaluation at Streche’s Almshouses, Worgret Road, Wareham

An archaeological evaluation was carried out to the rear of Streche’s Almshouses, Worgret Road, Wareham in February 2005. The work was commissioned in response to a request for an archaeological evaluation of the site by Purbeck District Council prior to determining an application for development. The evaluation consisted of four hand-excavated trial pits. The remains of terracing visible to the rear of the Almshouses appears to be related to former garden boundaries and do not show any relationship with a possible counterscarp bank alignment associated with the Town Walls. The soil profiles revealed in the trial pits are consistent with intensive gardening practices and contain much post-Medieval and modern domestic debris. Two trial pits (1 and 4), revealed lower subsoil horizons that may represent a buried Medieval soil, possibly derived form former agricultural use of the land. One trial pit (no.2) revealed a possible pit containing exclusively Medieval pottery. Medieval features and finds may therefore survive elsewhere on the site and might be affected by future development proposals. Any such deposits are considered of archaeological importance, but not a significant constraint to development.