SWX8606 - West Bay Sewage Treatment Works, Bridport, Dorset: Archaeological Desk-based Assessment

This desk-based assessment was commissioned by Wessex Water Engineering Services, and prepared in accordance with the guidelines approved by the Institute of Field Archaeologists. The overall aim was to collate existing documentary, cartographic and photographic evidence with a view to assessing the archaeological potential of seven proposed development Sites, and also of a larger Study Area. Detailed development proposals are not currently available, but will comprise the construction of a Sewage Treatment Works at one of seven proposed Sites (A, B, E, F, 1, 2 and 3) in the general vicinity of West Bay. This document will ultimately be incorporated into an Environmental Impact Assessment for the Study Area. The desk-based assessment has recorded remains from all major chronological periods within the Study Area, although no records exist for archaeological sites or findspots specifically within any of the proposed development Sites. Prehistoric, Romano-British and Early Medieval material are poorly represented, predominantly comprising stray finds, with the exception of two Scheduled Monuments of probably Bronze Age date, the route of the Roman road from Dorchester (Durnovaria) to Exeter (Isca) through Bridport, and the documented Saxon origins for the town of Bridport itself. The medieval period is most coherently represented, mainly comprising structural remains, both buried and extant, within Bridport, as well as substantial hillside terraces, or lynchets, in the surrounding countryside. Post-medieval structures and finds are similarly concentrated in the town of Bridport and its immediate environs, and features of this date include a large group of 16th-century lynchets around the village of Walditch which are associated with the cultivation of flax. Aerial photographs have indicated hitherto unrecorded, potentially significant, archaeological features to the east of West Bay, possibly comprising prehistoric and Romano-British settlement remains. In addition, a large circular feature on North Hill may represent the physical remains of an early post-medieval signal beacon site, depicted on contemporaneous maps of the area. The report concludes that the area in the vicinity of the features observed on the aerial photographs (proposed development Sites B, E, 1, 2 and 3) possesses the greatest potential for significant archaeological remains, particularly if the interpretation of the aerial photographic evidence proves to be correct. There is a moderate potential for the identification of a medieval road or route through Ways Mead to the west of Broomhill farm (proposed development Site A), whilst modern development within proposed development Site F has probably severely compromised the potential survival of any archaeological remains at this site. Ultimately, the impact of any proposed development will depend on whether associated groundworks will truncate intact archaeological deposits.