Monument record MDO18163 - Roman building, St John Ambulance Hall, Friary Lane, Dorchester

The remains of an extensively robbed Roman building dating to the 3rd-4th century AD were found during the 2003 excavations on the site of the former St John Ambulance Hall, North Square, Dorchester, undertaken by Terrain Archaeology. Only a small part of this building was exposed, comprising part of two flint wall footings and limestone walls and the robbed out remains of a third wall were found, together with rammed chalk floors. The size and function of this substantial building is not known, but it was probably part of a town house.

The remains of an extensively robbed Roman building were exposed, comprising a single wall running NW-SE, with a return to the SW at the northern end indicated by a robber trench. It is unclear as to whether or not this represented an external wall. There was some evidence of further Roman occupation layers, possibly internal, directly to the north of this robber trench. There was some evidence for a partition wall 3m to the south of the assumed return. The building was built upon solid rammed flint footings 0.6m wide and 0.4m deep and the exposed remains of the walls were constructed from limestone slabs and blocks, bonded with a yellow sandy mortar. The depth of the footings suggests that the building had only one storey. Two drains were incorporated into the main NW-SE wall, draining out to the NE, suggesting that this was an external wall probably at the rear of the building. The extent of later robbing and disturbance means that no true estimate of the building floor plan can be made. It is arguable that the position of the building in relation to the Roman street plan suggests that it may have fronted the Roman street, in which case the footprint of the building would have continued eastwards for about another 5-10m.

The internal floors of the building were partially preserved and consisted of rammed chalk, which survived in patches to the west of the wall. A small amount of possible occupation debris was revealed at the south end of the building, in the form of a greyish soil containing charcoal and ash, but no artefacts were recovered.

The usage, nature and status of the building remain elusive due to the lack of domestic or industrial features such as ovens or hearths and the lack of any high quality artefacts. A small amount of tesserae were recovered but not enough to suggest that this building had tessellated floors. The finds recovered suggest a 3rd-4th century date for this building.

<1> Bellamy, P, 2000, St John Ambulance Hall, North Square, Dorchester, Dorset: Archaeological Evaluation (Unpublished document). SDO9598.

<2> Bellamy, P S, 2000, Dorchester, St John Ambulance Hall, North Square. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society (Article in serial). SDO9599.

<3> Terrain Archaeology, 2001, St John Ambulance Hall, North Square, Dorchester (Excavation archive). SDO9622.

<4> Bellamy, P S, 2003, Dorchester, St John Ambulance Hall, North Square. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeology Society (Article in serial). SDO9592.

<6> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1431032 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Aug 22 2024 7:27PM