SDO18106 - Archaeological Evaluation Report, Shaftebury Cattle Market, Christ's Lane, Shaftesbury

An archaeological evaluation was undertaken by Groundworks Archaeology at the former Shaftesbury cattle market. The evaluation of a simple stratigraphaphy of modern hardcore, overlay a dark silty layer interpreted as a trample layer with associations to the former cattle market. This is due to the high ammonia content. This seales a layer of cultivated soil which covers the site. From this soil deposit a single fragment of Medieval green glaze pottery has been recovered from this layer along with a clay pipe, post-medieval brick and undatable fragments of ceramic building materials. A small number of features were present which comprise of three ditches which may be a heavily truncated ditch. It appears that the site was under cultivation from at least the Medieval period. The features may be related to agricultural use and the ditches itentify a probobla field boundary, though these may be contempary. Based on the pottery recovered from the ditch they are likely to be 17th-18th century.