Druids Lodge Polo Club, Salisbury, Wiltshire (OASIS ID: wessexar1-82314)

Wessex Archaeology was commissioned by Druids Lodge Polo Club to undertake an archaeological evaluation in advance of development on land at Druid's Lodge Polo Club, near Salisbury, Wiltshire, centred on NGR SU 09525 39260. The fieldwork was required as part of the ongoing programme of archaeological investigation to inform a proposed planning application . Following two phases of geophysical survey across the site, twenty trenches were machine excavated and positioned largely within areas of proposed cut and targeted on the probable archaeological features highlighted by the previous surveys. Three trenches were also positioned within an area of fill in the south-east corner of the site, to provide further information on the archaeology to help to inform future mitigation and preservation. The evaluation has established that archaeological features comprising two enclosures, pits, ditches and a possible trackway are present across the site. The earliest evidence of activity on the Site dates to the early Bronze Age and although this was largely found residually amongst later Romano-British pits, in two of the ditches, no other datable finds were recovered suggesting a low level of early prehistoric activity across the site. Two trenches targeted on the enclosure in the south-east corner of the site have confirmed an Iron Age date. A substantial double ditched feature enclosing the settlement was recorded and partially excavated. One storage pit and several further pits and postholes indicative of settlement activity were recorded within the interior of the enclosure. The archaeological remains encountered close to the enclosure located just off the north-west side of the site date mainly to the Romano-British period. The fieldwork has also demonstrated that there is a good correlation between the geophysical results and the presence of actual archaeological remains on the site.