SDO12451 - Swanworth Quarry, Purbeck, Dorset. Archaeological Watching Brief Report

'Wessex Archaeology was commissioned by Tarmac Ltd to conduct an archaeological watching brief at Swanworth Quarry during the initial stripping of a c.2 ha area to the north east of the current works. The Site lies approximately 1km north of Worth Matravers in the Isle of Purbeck, Dorset and is centred on NGR 497220 078470. Previous investigations at the Site included a 1.5% evaluation of 32 trenches carried out in 1995 which uncovered no archaeological features within the northern parcel of land under consideration in this report. Findspots of artefacts and features made within the quarry boundaries over the past 70 years, however, maintained a significant archaeological potential which this fieldwork was designed to monitor. The c.2 ha site was stripped of topsoil and then subsoil, to the top of the natural overburden, allowing for archaeological monitoring of each interface. No archaeological features, deposits or artefacts were revealed. The fieldwork was carried out between the 22nd of September and the 2nd of October 2008.'