EDO4510 - Salisbury Street outside The Old House at Home, Dorchester; observations and recording 1997

The construction by Wessex Water of an outfall sewer from 10 Salisbury Street to opposite 4 Fordington High Street enabled observation of the eastern approaches to the town and the extra-mural structures associated with the Oceanus mosaic discovered in 1927 (1). Near the south-eastern corner of The Old House at Home three courses of Purbeck limestone ashlar were observed with a stone slab against it. 2.7m to the north, compacted gravels up to 0.3m deep are suggested to be part of the southern tower of the Roman east gate and the roadway: the first at a depth of 1.2m were on the same general alignment as the Oceanus building further to the east (2). Robbed out wall footings were also observed at the mid point of High Street which may belong to the building within which the Museum's Oceanus mosaic formed one of the floors.