Wessex Archaeology was commissioned by Videotext Communications Ltd to undertake a programme of archaeological recording and post-excavation work on an archaeological evaluation undertaken by Channel 4’s ‘Time Team’ at Picket Farm, Picket Lane, South Perrott, Dorset, centred on NGR 347070 105300 (Figure 1). Picket Farm lies 1 km south of South Perrott, a small village some 4km north of the small town of Beaminster in Dorset.
The presence of archaeological remains on the Site was first established through the activities of two local metal detectorists. They found a significant concentration of Roman coins associated with a few fragments of pottery. They reported their finds to the local Finds Liason Officer, Ciorstaidh Trevathen-Hayward. On the basis of these finds, and the hilltop location of the Site, it was suggested that the distribution of coins might indicate the presence of a Roman temple.