Monument record MDO18157 - Greyhound Yard, medieval Building 753

Building 753 was a rectangular stone building constructed across the northern part of the central burgage plot exposed during the 1984 Greyhound Yard excavations. The west boundary of the burgage plot was moved westwards to accommodate this building which was constructed in the 13th century. No floor surfaces survived and the function of the building is uncertain. A secondary wall connected this building with Building 952 to the east. A well lay just outside the SW corner of this building and a stone-lined cess pit just to the south.

Found during the excavations carried out by Wessex Archaeology in 1984 prior to the redevelopment of the area of the former Greyhound Yard. (1) The results of the excavation were published together with the results of the adjacent Old Methodist Chapel excavations. (2) The numbers in square brackets below are context and feature numbers used in the published report (2).

Building 753 was a rectangular building, measuring about 10.8m by 6.3m internally, located in the northern part of the central burgage plot. The western side of this building overlay the original boundary ditch [1427] on the western side of the plot, which was moved about 3m to the west to accommodate this building. Only the footings of this building survived and these comprised closely-set flint and limestone rubble bonded with clay loam, with faces of coursed flint nodules. Up to two courses 0.7m wide survived. The central part of the north wall and the west part of the south wall had been destroyed. The stone footings may have been sleeper walls for a timber framed building. The north wall had been rebuilt. No contemporary floor surfaces were identified within this building.

Along the outer face of the west wall was a shallow gully [1239]. Butted up to the southeast corner of the building was a wall footing [771] of coarse chalk rubble. It extended eastwards for about six metres across the line of the eastern side of the burgage plot to apparently terminate just south of Building 952. It is unclear whether Buildings 753 and 952 were contemporary, but the existence of wall [771] suggests they were probably both in use together for some of their life. Building 753 was probably constructed and in use during the 13th century, possibly continuing into the 14th century, on pottery evidence. It was demolished before the construction of the later medieval dovecote in the 14th century. The function of this building is not known.

To the south of Building 753 was a large square cess pit [1219] about 1.4m square and 4.7m deep with vertical sides and flat base, with a stone rubble lining in its upper part. The lowest fills were cess, which contained numerous broken cookpots and small animal bones. This was sealed by a layer of stone rubble, which may have been associated with the demolition of Building 753. The pottery dated the usage of this pit to the mid-late 13th century.

In the angle between the SW corner of Building 753 and wall [771] was a well [1351]. This was a circular vertical shaft about 1.1m across. Only the upper 1.5m of this well was excavated so its full depth is not known.

To the north of the west end of Building 753 was a large subrectangular pit [971] about 1.4m deep filled with dark soils. Its location post-dated the westward expansion of the property boundary, so may have been contemporary with the building. To the north of this pit was an E-W alignment of stone-packed postholes [5509], which included some 14th century pottery in their fills

Trust for Wessex Archaeology, 1983, Dorchester, Durnovaria: Excavations in the town centre at Greyhound Yard, and the Old Methodist Chapel (1982-1984): Interim and introductory notes to the current excavations (Unpublished document). SDO9435.

Wessex Archaeology, 1984, Greyhound Yard, Dorchester excavation archive (Excavation archive). SDO9456.

<1> Woodward, P J , Davies, S M , and Graham, A H, 1984, Excavations at the Greyhound Yard Car Park, Dorchester, 1984, 99-106 (Article in serial). SDO9437.

<2> Woodward, P J , Davies, S M , and Graham, A H, 1993, Excavations at the Old Methodist Chapel and Greyhound Yard, Dorchester, 1981-1984, 92-94 (Monograph). SDO9411.

Record last edited

Aug 22 2024 7:27PM