Monument record MDO18064 - Roman grain dryer, St George's Road, Dorchester

A rectangular ditched enclosure with two entrances. At least two phases of use, with the blocking of one entrance in the second phase. There are a number of subdivisions within the enclosure. A grain drier and a pit appear to be associated with this enclosure. Elements of other rectangular enclosures to the east.

Found during the excavations at St George's 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.

A possible grain drier [01185] was found in the northeast part of the rectangular ditched enclosure. It was 4m long and up to 1.3m wide and comprised a steep-sided 'bowl' with a shallower gully to the west. It was filled with with dark brown charcoal-flecked soil and contained 1 sherd of BB1 pot and five pieces of slag. A pit (01079) was found on the southern side of the eastern entrance. This was circular in plan with a diameter of 1.1m and 0.85m deep with seven 'stakeholes' cut horizontally into the sides of the pit about 0.4m below the top. It appears to have silted up gradually over a long period of time.

National Monuments Record, NMR Monument Record, SY 79 SW 57 (Index). SDO9937.

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 (Article in serial). SDO9381.

Smith, R J C et al, 1997, Excavations along the Route of the Dorchester By-pass, Dorset, 1986-8, 19-21 (Monograph). SDO9379.

Record last edited

Dec 6 2023 7:45PM