EDO4850 - Dorset County Hospital Site, Princes Street, Dorchester; evaluation 1994 (Test Pit 6)

Wessex Archaeology carried out a field evaluation in the grounds of Dorset County Hospital, Princes Street, Dorchester, in February 1994. This work comprised 6 hand excavated test pits and an auger survey, the purpose of which was to provide additional information on the survival, nature and depth of any archaeological deposits within the area, to supplement previous fieldwork (1989) and a desk based assessment (1993). The test pits revealed Roman features in the western part of the area, adjacent to the mortuary (at about 69.8m OD) and in the north part behind Lime Tree House (at about 72m OD); deep modern overburden elsewhere may seal medieval or earlier deposits. The auger survey suggests that archaeological levels (predominately Roman) may survive in several parts of the site which are currently open. Potential for pre-Roman layers is indicated by the apparent presence of clay and silt layers overlying the chalk in auger holes in the north part, the central part and the southern part of the site. This potential cannot be fully assessed without larger scale work. Test Pit 6 was a 1x1m test pit located to the east of the visitor's entrance to the mortuary. A Romano-British wall footing, aligned E-W, underlay topsoil and a thin soil layer. The trench was filled with closely packed flint rubble, robbed out or demolished in parts. Ths cut through an earlier Romano-British layer and natural clay-with-flints.