Monument record MDO18231 - Wessex Court, Charles Street, Dorchester; Late Neolithic Post Pit Arc 1601

An arc of large oval post-pits with large post-pipes was found during the 1989 excavations at Wessex Court, Charles Street. These were similar in size to those found at Greyhound Yard and probably form part of the same Neolithic monument. The southernmost post-pits describe a tighter arc curving in to the east, suggesting a more complex-shaped monument, perhaps indicating an entrance here.

Found during the excavations carried out by Wessex Archaeology in 1989 in the proposed Wessex Court retail development area between Charles Street, Acland Road, and South Walks, Dorchester (1) (2) (3). The numbers in square brackets below are context and feature numbers used in the report and archive (3) (4).

Five large post-pits were found in Trench 1 and a further three in Trench 3. These pits were all similar in size and shape and were all oval in plan and 4-5m long and 1.5m wide. None of these post-pits were fully excavated, but they all had a sloping ramp to the west. Traces of post-pipes were partially exposed in the western ends of two post-pits [513, 504] in Trench 1and three post-pits [343, 347, 349] in Trench 3. The post-pipes were between 0.7-1.0m in diameter. Most of the post-pits were not excavated, but two post-pits in Trench 1 [513, 504] were exposed in the side of a later cellar, and the southernmost post-pit in Trench 3 [343] was partially excavated. The fills of the post-pits were largely chalk rubble in brown clay with occasional flint nodules. Five antlers were found near the base of the post-pipe in the excavated post-pit [343] and also quantities of worked flint.

The five post-pits in Trench 1 were on the same arc and about 17m south of the post-pit arc 5540 previously discovered at Greyhound Yard (5). The three post-pits in Trench 3 were on a slightly different arc to those in Trench 1 and at Greyhound Yard, being slightly to the east of the projected alignment and curving round more tightly to the southeast.

These post-pits have been dated by association with the Greyhound Yard post-pit arc which has radiocarbon dates between 2920-2340 BC.

<1> Davies, S M and Farwell, D, 1989, Excavations at Charles Street (Wessex Court), Dorchester: Interim report on Stage 1, 25th May-3rd July and Stage 2, 25th July-12th September 1989 (Unpublished document). SDO9408.

<2> Adam, N J, Butterworth, C A, Davies, S M, and Farwell, D E, 1992, Excavations at Wessex Court , Charles Street, Dorchester, Dorset, 1989 (Unpublished document). SDO9409.

<3> Davies, S M and Farwell, D E, 1989, 'Charles Street, Dorchester, Wessex Court Development', Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society (Article in serial). SDO9414.

<4> Wessex Archaeology, 1989-1990, Wessex Court, Charles Street, Dorchester (Excavation archive). SDO9878.

<5> Woodward, P J , Davies, S M , and Graham, A H, 1993, Excavations at the Old Methodist Chapel and Greyhound Yard, Dorchester, 1981-1984 (Monograph). SDO9411.

Record last edited

Aug 22 2024 7:28PM