Monument record MDO18273 - Wessex Court, Charles Street, Dorchester; Medieval activity, Trench 6

Extensive evidence for stone robbing of the Roman buildings in the 12th-15th century was found in Trench 6, during the 1990 excavations at Wessex Court, Charles Street, Dorchester, together with a small number of other features.

Found during the excavations carried out by Wessex Archaeology in 1990 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 (1) (3).

The majority of features of probable medieval date relate to the piecemeal robbing of the Roman buildings. There was extensive robbing of the walls of the Western courtyard and of Late Roman building, Structure 4. At least seven separate robber pits and trenches were recognised in the western end of the site and at least 15 along the lines of the walls of Structure 4, indicating the episodic nature of the robbing activity. The only dating evidence was a small quantity of 12th-15th century pottery from these features, which were largely filled with residual Roman material.

Five probable medieval features not related to stone robbing were also identified. Two shallow scoops or truncated pits [2129] and [2197] filled with residual Roman material were found in the western part of the trench. These have been assigned to the medieval period on stratigraphic grounds. Two postholes [2337] [2172] were found cut through the robber trenches of Structure 4 and a small slot [2232] cut the robber trenches also. Only residual Roman material was found in these features.

Overall, the evidence suggests there was little concentrated medieval activity in this area.

<1> Adam, N J, and Butterworth, C A, 1993, Excavations at Wessex Court, Charles Street, Dorchester, Dorset, 1990. Volume 1: Text & Appendix I (Unpublished document). SDO191.

<2> Adam, N J, 1990, 'Excavations at Charles Street (Wessex Court), Dorchester, Interim Note on Stage 3, October-December 1990' Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 115-7 (Article in serial). SDO9415.

<3> Wessex Archaeology, 1989-1990, Wessex Court, Charles Street, Dorchester (Excavation archive). SDO9878.

Record last edited

Aug 22 2024 7:28PM