Monument record MDO18253 - Wessex Court, Charles Street, Dorchester; Later Roman structure 1610

A short length of mortared flint and limestone wall was found along the northern side of the courtyard to the east of Structure 1609, in Trench 3 of the 1989 excavations at Wessex Court, Charles Street, Dorchester. It may define the northern boundary of the courtyard, or it may represent the remains of an earlier building on this site.

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).

Structure 1610 was found in the northeastern part of Trench 3. Only part of a single wall [230], aligned roughly east-west, was exposed. This wall was exposed for a distance of 4m and comprised two courses of mortared flint nodules and limestone fragments 0.6m wide. A small patch of unpainted wall plaster was found adhering to the southern wall face.

This wall was on the same alignment, but slightly north of early Roman structure 1603. It is unclear whether this wall was part of a building or was the northern wall of the courtyard to the east of Later Roman building 1609. The lower parts of this wall were covered by the deposits found in the courtyard and so may be associated with a structure earlier than Structure 1609.

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(Wessex Court), Dorchester: Interim report on Stage 1, 25th May-3rd July and Stage 2, 25th July-12th September 1989 (Unpublished document).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C A, Davies, S M, and Farwell, D E, 1992, Excavations at Wessex Court , Charles Street, Dorchester, Dorset, 1989 (Unpublished document).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

Record last edited

Aug 22 2024 7:28PM