SDO15409 - Land at Shaftesbury Lane, Blandford Forum, Dorset. Archaeological Monitoring and Recording.

‘Context One Archaeological Services Ltd (COAS) carried out a programme of archaeological monitoring and recording in mitigation of the construction of a new food store at Shaftesbury Lane, Blandford Forum, Dorset (the ‘Site) between 17 November 2016 and 5 January 2017. The project was commissioned by Lidl UK. The investigation was required by the Local Planning Authority (LPA), North Dorset District Council (NDDC) as a condition of granting planning permission. A desk based assessment by COAS in 2015, indicated that there was a single non-designated heritage asset recorded on the eastern boundary of the Site. A potential prehistoric enclosure has been identified from aerial photographs c. 100m to the north of the Site, so there was therefore some potential for the presence of archaeological remains on the Site. No archaeological features or deposits were identified. Whilst sites and findspots of prehistoric and Romano-British date occur in the wider environs, there is no indication of activity on the Site. No traces were found of the possible mound noted on mid-20th century aerial photographs on the western edge of the Site, suggesting the feature was either ploughed out in recent decades or represented a superficial agricultural feature.’