PCA Winchester was commissioned to carry out an archaeological watching brief (monitoring and recording) during groundworks for a Southwest Water water main. The diversion of this watermain formed part of the A31 Road Widening Scheme.

The route of the proposed diversion was approximately 1.8km long and passed through the historic town of Ringwood, Hampshire, including areas of hard standing, infrastructure within Ringwood town centre and agricultural pasture. The diversion included the route of the watermain along with construction-related working space around the new main.

The aim of the archaeological watching brief was to monitor groundworks along the four lengths of the proposed water main diversion and investigate and record archaeological remains that were identified, taking account of the date, nature, extent, bio-archaeological and palaeoenvironmental potential of the remains. A further aim was to prepare an archive of the results of the investigation leading to the preparation of a report. As a minimum the report was to satisfy the requirement of the County Archaeologist that the watching brief was carried out.

During consultations between the client and the county archaeologist, it was required that the archaeological watching brief should focus on topsoil easement and trench excavation along four lengths of the new water main. These included the western fields by the river Avon and in the historic core of Ringwood.

There were numerous archaeological findspots and sites in the area surrounding the development. Mesolithic flints have been recovered from alluvial deposits near the route of the diversion and through field walking. There was also both physical and documentary evidence of medieval and post-medieval activity along the diversion route and the diversion route passed close to  including several Grade II* listed buildings .

Excavation of the water main trench to the southwest of Ringwood revealed no archaeological features. Excavations of the watermain trench within the town yielded similar results, probably due to the presence of modern disturbance which happened when the road and associated services were constructed sometime after 1971.

After the completion of the archaeological monitoring, a report was prepared to comply with the advice of the county archaeologist and the conditions of the planning consent.