EDO4147 - Town Walls, Colliton Park, Dorchester; evaluation 2001

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. The trenches were of variable length but generally 1.2m wide. Three trenches (A-C) were machine-excavated in the car park of County Hall on the south side of the wall, and two (D and E) were hand-excavated on a grass verge immediately to the north of the wall. The evaluation established the survival of the town rampart in every trench, the layers forming the structure composed of orange-brown sandy clay or chalk rubble. Overlying the layers forming the rampart were levelling or infilling deposits, most considered to be of post-medieval or modern date. The results from each trench provide a record of the sequence of construction comparable with sections previously recorded on and across the Roman town defences close to this location. Following completion of the evaluation, it is now possible to establish in each trench the level at which intact Romano-British levels occur.