EDO3750 - Wollaston Field, Dorchester; Trench B

Trench B was one of four trial trenches excavated by Wessex Archaeology in late January 1987, to assess the archaeological stratigraphy between the scheduled area of the Roman Bathhouse and Icen Way, prior to the development of the site for a Day Care Centre (1) (2) (3). Trench B was located at the western end of the site, less than 10m east from the NE corner of the Roman Bathhouse excavations.. Beneath 2-2.2m of medieval- modern topsoil was a 0.3m layer of limestone, flint and tile rubble, lying directly above an in situ tesselated Roman pavement. This comprised tesserae of limestone, tile and shale (2cm sq) laid in a pattern of concentric squares of alternating black and orange on a white ground. There was a less regular repaired patch in the NE corner. A robbed out wall to the south and east suggested that this was in the southeast corner of a room. It is likely that it was part of the Roman Bath House, perhaps part of the room to the north of the frigidarium in the Phase 2 Bath house building (4).