Monument record MDO18237 - Wessex Court, Charles Street, Dorchester; Early Roman activity, Trench 2

A small number of truncated early Roman features were found in Trench 2, during the 1989 excavations at Wessex Court, Charles Street, Dorchester. None of these features were fully exposed or excavated, but included the bases of two possible cess pits and two other shallow features. Finds recovered from these features included 1st century AD pottery, lead fragments, and part of an undecorated shale table top. This activity is probably part of a yard or open area behind a building on the Roman street frontage to the east.

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) (2).

A small number of early Roman features were found at the base of a small sondage in Trench 2. None of these features were fully exposed and all were truncated and were sealed beneath a considerable depth of medieval and post-medieval soils. Part of two pits [722, 723] and two other shallow features [762, 763] were found cut through the remains of a prehistoric (pre-urban) soil. Pit 723 was a roughly square pit base, one metre wide and 0.07m deep. It was filled with greenish-brown soil (cess?) containing animal bone, tile, 1st century AD pottery and ten small pieces of lead. Pit 664 was not excavated but was filled with greenish-brown silt and part of an undecorated shale table top was found in the top of this feature. Feature 763 was a small roughly circular feature 0.2m deep and Feature 762 was a linear or subrectangular feature 0.25m deep, both were filled with similar greenish-brown soil and contained undiagnostic Roman pottery.

The area exposed and the truncation of deposits makes it difficult to define the precise nature of this early Roman activity. The location, density and type of features suggests that it is part of a yard, or an open area behind the street frontage, which lies to the east. It may be related to a Roman building, as yet undiscovered, along this street frontage, similar to those found at Greyhound Yard immediately to the north. (5)

National Monuments Record, NMR Monument Record, SY 69 SE 386 (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> 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