Monument record MDO18030 - Maiden Castle Road earlier Roman buildings and other activity

A rectangular semi-sunken building, possibly within a small curvilinear plot was found next to the ditched trackway. There are very few finds associated with the building which may have been a workshop or store. It appears to have gone out of use by the 3rd century AD. Another curvilinear feature was found further southwest and is of unknown function.

Found during the excavations to the north of Maiden Castle Road undertaken by Wessex Archaeology in 1987 in advance of the Dorchester By-pass construction. The following description is abstracted from the final published report on the site (1). The numbers in square brackets refer to context numbers quoted in the report.

Just to the south of the ditched trackway was a rectangular semi-sunken building [02310] 5m by 4m across and 0.75m deep. It had steep sides and a ledge around the upper edges, perhaps for a cill beam. The floor consisted of a thin trampled fine silt with patches of burnt clay. The structure appears to have silted up. Very few finds were recovered but included a very small quantity of predominantly 2nd-3rd century AD pottery.

Immediately south of structure [02310] were the remains of two shallow small curvilinear gullies [02302, 02303] which had been largely eroded away. Their relationship to the building is unclear, but could have formed part of an enclosure around this structure. Another curvilinear ditch [02285] lay further southwest on the edge of the excavation and had also been largely eroded away. Within this curvilinear ditch was an elongated feature [02298] of unknown function which continued beyond the edge of the excavation. Very few finds were recovered from these features, mainly abraded Roman pottery.

The lack of occupation debris associated with building [02310] and the surrounding features may indicate that it was a workshop or store rather than a dwelling. The limited dating evidence suggests it was filled in by the 3rd century AD.<1>

SY 676 894 (FCE) A rapid examination of air photography suggests the presence of a number of features, including rectilinear enclosures, linear features and pits, possibly of Prehistoric or Roman date, visible in the process of being excavated to the north of Maiden Castle, c.150m northeast of Bush Road Cottages. <2>

National Record of the Historic Environment, 983909 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Wessex Archaeology, 1987, Dorchester By-pass (Excavation archive). SDO9385.

Woodward, P J and Smith, R J C, 1987, Survey and excavation along the route of the Southern Dorchester By-pass, 1986-1987 – an interim note, 79-89 (Article in serial). SDO9381.

<1> Smith, R J C et al, 1997, Excavations along the Route of the Dorchester By-pass, Dorset, 1986-8, 56-70 (Monograph). SDO9379.

<2> Miller, Andrew, 1993, RCHME: AP Primary Recording Project, 12-FEB-1993 (Unpublished document). SWX1708.

<2.1> Boyden, J R, JRB 3421: 07-8, 10, 16; JRB 3425: 16, 18-30 (Aerial Photograph). SDO20335.

Record last edited

Dec 6 2023 8:30PM