Netherhampton Farm Mitigation, Netherhampton, Salisbury, Wiltshire - Post-excavation Assessment

Wessex Archaeology

Wessex Archaeology was commissioned to undertake archaeological mitigation works comprising an evaluation followed by an excavation covering approximately 600m2 at Netherhampton Farm, Netherhampton, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP2 8PU. The mitigation area is centred on NGR 410778 129918.

The earliest activity in the mitigation area was represented by a broken flint flake, which can only be broadly dated as Neolithic/Bronze Age, that was recovered as a residual find from an early medieval ditch. Three ditches and two pits were dated to the Saxo-Norman period through the recovery of a small assemblage of Cheddar-type ware and Wessex coarseware dated to between the 10th–12th centuries. These features are likely to relate to crofts associated with early tofts established along the street frontage (now Parish Road) to the south, which formed the main thoroughfare in the settlement which developed into Netherhampton. The next period of activity was post-medieval represented by five pits and a ditch, and then a series of modern features including postholes, pits, a ditch, a wall and a well that related to the construction and occupation of Netherhampton Farm. The most recent features were a series of layers of redeposited chalk and building material associated with the demolition of the farm structures. A number of pits, postholes and ditches could not be firmly dated.