Monument record MDO18247 - Wessex Court, Charles Street, Dorchester; Later Roman structure 1606

The remains of a probable later Roman stone-built rectangular building was found in Trench 1, during the 1989 excavations at Wessex Court, Charles Street, Dorchester. This building was oriented N-S and measured 6m by over 6.5m. The walls of this building had been completely robbed and the area had been severely truncated by modern terracing. No floor surfaces or dating evidence survived.

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).

This structure was found in the northwest part of Trench 1and comprised the robbed wall trenches [502] and [529] , forming part of the west, south and east sides of a rectangular building , presumably originally stone built, measuring 6m east-west by over 6.5m north-south. This structure was almost completely destroyed by modern terracing and no floor deposits survived. No dating evidence was available but it has been dated to the later Roman period on the basis of its stone construction.

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(Wessex Court), Dorchester: Interim report on Stage 1, 25th May-3rd July and Stage 2, 25th July-12th September 1989 (Unpublished document).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C A, Davies, S M, and Farwell, D E, 1992, Excavations at Wessex Court , Charles Street, Dorchester, Dorset, 1989 (Unpublished document).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

<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.

Record last edited

Aug 22 2024 7:28PM