Monument record MDO18235 - Wessex Court, Charles Street, Dorchester; Roman Road 1008

The remains of a Roman road was found running NE-SW across Trench 4, during the 1989 excavations at Wessex Court, Charles Street, Dorchester. The road was defined by two small flanking ditches and there was evidence for three major phases of resurfacing of this road. It was probably constructed very early in the history of the Roman town and continued in use into the 4th century, having probably been used throughout the life of Roman Durnovaria. A number of ruts and other patches of wear were visible on the surfaces. Further parts of this same road have been traced both to the NE and SW of this exposure during other projects.

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) (4). The numbers in square brackets below are context and feature numbers used in the report and archive (1) (4).

Roman road 1008 ran diagonally across Trench 4 from NE-SW and was originally delimited by small gullies on either side of the road, defining an area about 5m wide. The natural ground surface was levelled and built up by a layer of mixed clay loam soil with chalk and flint rubble containing a small quantity of animal bone, tile and Roman pottery. On this was constructed the primary road surface of compacted flint gravel, which was covered by a thin band of clay loam containing some 1st century AD pottery. Two ruts, 1.2m apart, 0.2m wide and 0.05m deep were worn into this surface. The precise date of construction of the road is not clear from the evidence, but stratigraphically it is clear that it is very early, if not primary, in the urban sequence. The small quantity of Roman finds in the levelling and make-up suggest some earlier Roman activity nearby.

The road was resurfaced with a stabilisation layer of large loose flint nodules, 0.2m thick, capped by surface of fine light brown gravel and sand. This surface showed signs of wear and patching and two ruts of the same size and spacing as the earlier ones were found in the surface. This surface was covered by a thin deposit of light greyish-brown silt clay which contained 1st century AD pottery, animal bone, shell, tile and glass. The date of this resurfacing is not clear, though the finds from the layer overlying it suggests it may be in the later 1st century AD.

Another surface was added to the road in the 2nd or 3rd century AD. This comprised a consolidation layer of loose flint pebbles in a grey brown soil, which contained fragments of animal bone, tile, shell, shale, and pottery dating to the 2nd-3rd century AD. This consolidation material was capped by a compacted surface of light brown fine gravel and sand. No ruts were found on this surface, instead there was a single depression 2m wide and 0.1m deep.

Up to three more compacted layers of light brown fine gravel and sand were found on top, probably the result of further resurfacing and repair operations and contained some 3rd-4th century AD pottery. The final period of use is not clear, but the evidence suggests that this road remains in use right through the Roman period. Further lengths of this road have been found both to the SW during the watching brief on the South Walks tunnel sewer (5) and to the NE in Wollaston Field (6).

National Monuments Record, NMR Monument Record, SY 69 SE 324 (Index). SDO9937.

<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> Davies, S M and Farwell, D E, 1990, South Walks Tunnel Sewer, Dorchester: Archaeological Watching-Brief. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 51-6 (Article in serial). SDO9573.

<6> Farrar, R A H, 1952, Excavation at Wollaston House, Dorchester. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society (Article in serial). SDO9749.

Record last edited

Aug 22 2024 7:28PM