SDO12395 - Watching brief and excavation at Milborne St Andrew, Dorset

This report summarises the results of observations and excavation carried out by AC archaeology on behalf of Wessex Water during groundworks for the extension of the sewage treatment plant at Milborne St Andrew. The area examined lies within 500m of a complex area of ridge-top settlement and burial remains, now visible only on aerial photographs. The elements of settlement (pits) and agriculture/communication (ditches, hollow ways) described in this report may potentially be considered to be extensions of the same complex. Lying as it does at the edge of the Milborne Brook, the activity recorded may relate to the exploitation of resources on the valley margins during the Prehistoric and Medieval periods. Weatherby Castle is a bivallate contour hillfort enclosing an area of 7.15ha situated at the southern end of a low ridge to the south of the Medieval and modern village of Milborne St Andrew. Prior to the transcription exercise a total of seven monuments of pre-Medieval date had been recorded within the study area (RCHME 1970, 179-182). Apart from Weatherby Castle (18) and a small undated rhomboidal enclosure (38), all the recorded monuments were barrows of presumed Bronze Age date (RCHME 1970, 181-182, monuments 23-27). All additional monuments in the study area have been plotted from the oblique air photograph collection held by RCHME at Swindon, prints SY8096 13, 14, 19-23 and SY8196 1, 2, 5-7. Although only limited cover of the study area was available, substantial additions to the evolution of the landscape have been made which underscore the importance of continued aerial observation in the region.