EDO4302 - Old Market Car Park, Dorchester; Evaluation Trench B

In February 1985 a series of trial excavations were undertaken by the Central Excavation Unit in advance of works associated with the new road layout in Charles Street and Acland Road. Four trial holes were dug within the area of the Old Market Car Park, a fifth being dug in South Walks. Trenches A-D were on the line of the re-aligned Acland Road; Trench E was associated with the creation of a turning area in the southern end of Charles Street. The depth of the trenches was constrained to the depth of disturbance caused by the road construction. Trench B was 20m to the north of Trench A, along the new line of Acland Road, at a point where the generally flat area of Longman's Road begins to slope gently to the north. Below post-medieval build-up, the tail of the Roman defensive rampart was clipped by the excavation at the maximum allowable depth. This layer was a brown compact clay-loam with frequent small chalk flecks with layer and tip lines sloping to the north, and producing small eroded fragments of Roman coarse ware.