Monument record MDO18160 - Greyhound Yard and Gardens, Dorchester

Parts of two buildings were found during the 1984 excavations at Greyhound Yard, which can be identified on a 1772 map of Dorchester as part of Greyhound Yard. The northern building had clunch walls and an earthen floor, later replaced by a stone floor. It was used as a malt-house during the 18th century and was demolished before 1856. The southern building was poorly preserved and had been demolished before 1810.

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).

Traces of two post-medieval buildings were found along the west side of the excavations, with a number of probably contemporary pits in the open area to the east. These buildings have been identified as being part of the Greyhound Yard from the historic maps and sources.

Building [666] lay to the north and comprised two parallel clunch walls aligned east-west and 3.6m apart. The eastern extent of these walls was not determined. Part of the southern wall was found during the 1956 Greyhound Yard excavations to the west. Two successive floor levels were identified. The earlier floor [780] was earthen and the later one [669] was of limestone slabs, at least one of which was a reused roof tile. Evidence for the date of this building was limited with early 17th century pottery found beneath the walls and 19th century material beneath the stone floor.

Building [1418] lay to the south and comprised a number of overlapping slots which formed a broken line running north-south over a distance of about 10.5m. There was some evidence of recutting and/or replacement but it is unclear whether this represents the remains of a timber wall or a boundary alongside a wall. A mixture of 16th-19th century pottery was found in these slots.

The buildings shown on Hutchins 1772 map (3) along the back of the Greyhound Yard properties match the position of the excavated buildings. By 1737 the northern part was known as the ‘Greyhound Inn’ and the buildings in the NE part, including building [666] were referred to as malt-house, brew-house and cooling-house. On the 1810 Dorchester survey (4) Building [666] was described as a ‘malt-house and garden’ and in 1848 (5) as ‘house, stable and yard’. This building appears to have been demolished before 1856 as it does not appear on the Public Health Act Survey of 1854. (6) Building 1418 was demolished by 1810.

Immediately to the east of the south end of building [666] was a group of shallow rounded pits [987, 967, 998, 960] about 0.6m deep filled with dark soil and a small quantity of late 17th-early 18th century pottery. At the east end of this group was a square vertical sided pit [760] about 1.4m deep and filled with a large amount of 17th century domestic refuse. Further south was a shallow rounded pit [756] containing the skeleton of a dismembered pig.

National Record of the Historic Environment, 1147759 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

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, 109-110 (Monograph). SDO9411.

<3> Price, J, 1772, Plan of Dorchester (Map). SDO9548.

<4> Anon, 1810, Map of the Borough of Dorchester, Dorset (Map). SDO9545.

<5> Anon, 1849, Map of the Borough of Dorchester, Dorset (Map). SDO9547.

<6> Whitehead, A, 1854, Dorchester District surveyed for the purposes of the Public Health Act 1848 (Map). SDO9549.

Record last edited

Aug 22 2024 7:27PM