SDO14912 - Proposed installation of a cyclepath on the route of the Merchant's Railway, Portland, Dorset. Results of archaeological trial trenching

‘An archaeological trial trench evaluation was carried out to identify archaeological constraints and assist in the design of a proposed cycle path on the route of the former Merchants’ Railway on Portland by AC Archaeology Ltd between October 23rd and 24th 2014. The route crosses Verne Common and runs south of The Verne Prison; it is marked in places by the presence of stone sleeper block .on the ground surface. The evaluation comprised six hand-excavated trenches of varying dimensions. These trial trenches were located to identify additional, buried, stone sleeper blocks associated with the historic railway, and to provide an insight into their layout as well as the extent of disturbance since the railway’s abandonment. None of the trenches south of the Verne identified buried, paired, sleeper blocks, but the two most northerly trenches contained more extensive preservation of the abandoned railway.’