EDO4851 - Dorset County Hospital Site, Princes Street, Dorchester; evaluation auger transects 1994

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. A total of 32 auger holes was bored across the site, some at the base of test pits, in order to establish the presence or absence of archaeological layers, and to establish the relative heights above OD of the natural deposits across the site. Three basic horizons were identified: post-medieval and modern activity represented by deep soil build up, and by modern building debris and dumping; possible archaeological layers, often represented by a rubble horizon which has been well documented during earlier excavations on the site, and which often presented an impenetrable barrier to further augering; and natural deposits. Possible archaeological deposits were recorded in 16 of the 32 auger holes and impenetrable rubble in a further 6. two features of note were encountered; in auger hole 118 a mortar band which may represent a Roman floor surface was encountered at a depth of 1.70m below ground level; auger hole 112 also encountered a deep feature, a 0.5m thick clyey-loam layer below the rubble, with a void within the deposit, probably the fill of a pit whose base was not reached. 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.