EDO4142 - Town Walls, Colliton Park, Dorchester; evaluation Trench A

An archaeological evaluation by means of trench excavation carried out in advance of proposed repairs to the town walls at Colliton Park, Dorchester was undertaken by AC archaeology during March 2001. Five trenches were excavated, three (A-C) on the south side of the north wall of Colliton Park and two (D-E) on the north side of the wall. Trench A was 3m long and located south of, perpendicular to, and butting against the town wall close to the NW corner of the Roman town defences. It was positioned opposite Trench D, which was on the north side of the wall. It was excavated to a maximum depth of 1.3m in the north and 0.95m in the south. Two possible layers of the Roman rampart were recorded; a sandy clay, sealed by a chalk lump layer, both dipping to the north. No artefacts were recovered from these layers. Above these intact Roman layers were a sequence of post-medieval soil layers also dipping and thickening to the north. These layers may represent a build up of soil against the town wall. A single feature cut these layers and may represent a foundation trench for the present town wall.