EDO4312 - Greenings Court, Dorchester; excavation 1970

An area of more than 200 sq m was excavated in four separate trenches during 1970, under the direction of Patrick Greene, on behalf of the Dorset Excavation Committee. This excavation remains unpublished and the following account is taken from the interim report written immediately after the fieldwork (1). Four major phases were recognised. 1. First century AD. A road running roughly E-W was found in the southern half of the site and comprised heavy rubble make-up and gravel metalling and was constructed directly on the pre-urban soils, so is likely to be a primary feature in the Roman town. The remains of a roadside gully were found to the south. This road was widened to a total width of 9m. To the north of the road were the remains of a timber building in the form of a number of beam slots and postholes. The plan of this structure is not clear. It was apparently divided from the road frontage by a fence (though this may be the front wall of the structure?). 2. Second century AD. The road was remetalled and a stone-lined drain constructed along its northern edge. The timber building was demolished and a large scoop was cut to the north of the road, cutting away part of the remains of the timber building. This feature was filled with considerable tips of ash which contained large quantities of pottery. At the end of the second century, another building was constructed in the western part of the excavated area on flint footings. The footings trenches cut though the ash deposits. Parts of one room with a corridor to the north were found. 3. Third century AD. During the life of the building, a large quantity of building rubble, largely derived from a demolished hypocaust, and including painted wall-plaster and opus signinum, were dumped to the east. 4. Fourth Century AD. Two further remetallings of the road took place during the fourth century, both dated on coin evidence. A 4th century rubbish pit containing bronze slag was also found. No building remains post-dating the Roman period were found. Two medieval pits were excavated. A trackway of probable post-medieval date was found running N-S and had been resurfaced at least once. This is thought to be the tract shown on Speed’s 1610 map of Dorchester.