EDO4145 - Town Walls, Colliton Park, Dorchester; evaluation Trench D

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 D was 1m long and located north of, and butting against, the town wall close to the NW corner of the Roman town defences. It was positioned opposite Trench A, which was on the south side of the wall and was excavated to a maximum depth of 0.6m. The top of the Roman rampart was exposed in the base of the trench, a sandy clay, dipping to the north. It probably corresponds with a similar layer seen in the base of Trench A. No artefacts were recovered from this layer. Above this intact Roman layer was a 0.6m thick sequence of modern soil layers also dipping and thickening to the north.