Monument record MDO18232 - Wessex Court, Charles Street, Dorchester; Late Neolithic Ditch 623

A small curving ditch along the west side of the Neolithic post-pit arc, found in Trench 1 of the 1989 excavations at Wessex Court, Charles Street, Dorchester. This ditch can be seen as a continuation of a similar ditch found to the north during the 1984 excavations at Greyhound Yard. It was not excavated, but it is presumed to be associated with the Neolithic post-pit arc because of their similar orientation and proximity.

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 (2) (4).

A ditch [623] about one metre wide was found on the western edge of Trench 1. This ditch was about one metre to the west of the Neolithic post-pit arc [1601] and followed the same curve. This ditch was not excavated.

Ditch [623] was on the same line as Ditch 4033 found at Greyhound Yard (5) and is probably part of the same feature. Overall, the curve of the ditch is not the same as the curve of the post-pit arc, as it curved in much more tightly towards the south, where it almost converges with the post-pits. No trace of this ditch was found in Trench 3 to the south, which crosses the projected line of this ditch.

<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(Wessex Court), Dorchester: Interim report on Stage 1, 25th May-3rd July and Stage 2, 25th July-12th September 1989 (Unpublished document).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C A, Davies, S M, and Farwell, D E, 1992, Excavations at Wessex Court , Charles Street, Dorchester, Dorset, 1989 (Unpublished document).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