Monument record MDO18199 - 19 North Square, Dorchester; Roman activity

Three pits, a posthole, a large shaped limestone block and a chalk surface were revealed during a watching brief on the construction of a new extension to the rear of 19 North Square, Dorchester, undertaken by Terrain Archaeology in 2003. The features were not well dated, but are probably 1st-2nd century in date. The pits appeared to be rubbish pits and contained quantities of building debris. It is unclear whether the chalk surface is an internal floor of a building or an external yard surface.

A number of pits and postholes and a chalk surface of probable Roman date were found during a watching brief to the rear of 19 North Square, Dorchester, undertaken by Terrain Archaeology in 2003. The context numbers in square brackets are taken from the client report (1).

Three pits, a posthole and a stone setting were found, which may all be Roman in date. Also, in the northeast part of the site was a hard-packed crushed chalk surface 50mm thick which immediately overlay the pre-urban soil. It is unclear whether this is the remains of a floor or a yard surface. Precise dating is difficult due to the small number of finds recovered from these features, but the small assemblage of Roman pottery is almost exclusively 1st-2nd century AD in date and includes a number of fineware sherds. It is unclear whether this area was inside or outside a building, though the latter seems more likely. The only evidence suggestive of a building was a large shaped limestone block laid directly on top of the chalk bedrock. This may have been the remains of a threshold, but it is unclear whether it was found in situ or not. The quantity of building debris within the Roman features indicates there was probably a substantial Roman building nearby.

Pit [105] was a large circular pit with steep sides and a flat base, about 0.9m in diameter and 0.45m deep at the western end of the site, within the existing building. It was filled with dark brown soil containing a single Roman coarseware sherd, some Roman tile fragments (including box flue tile) and animal bone. A small posthole lay adjacent to this pit.

Pit [610] lay in the southeast part of the site and was an ovoid pit over 1.5m by 1.0m across and about 1m deep with steep sides and a slightly rounded base. The pit was filled dark greyish-brown soil containing a small quantity of 1st-2nd century AD pottery, animal bone, oyster shell and probable building debris including roof tile.

Pit [713] was at the east end of the site and was largely destroyed by later activity. It cut through the pre-urban soil and was filled with reddish-brown clay soil. No finds were recovered.

Bellamy, P S, 2003, Dorchester, 19 North Square. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeology Society, 164 (Article in serial). SDO9450.

<1> Bellamy, P and Tatler, S, 2004, 19 North Square, Dorchester, Dorset: Archaeological Watching Brief (Unpublished document). SDO9449.

Record last edited

Aug 22 2024 7:27PM