Monument record MDO18318 - Dorchester Police Station; Roman roadside ditch

A probable Roman roadside ditch was exposed during evaluation of the Dorchester Police Station site in 2001 by AC archaeology. The ditch ran parallel and about 7.5 m from Weymouth Avenue (which is thought to be on the same line as the Roman road to Radipole). The ditch had a V-shaped profile and was filled with brown silty clay that contained a single sherd of Roman coarseware pottery, oyster shell and animal bone. It was on the same line as the ditch exposed during the construction of the South Station approach in 1986 and at Stationmaster's House in 1988 and is undoubtedly the same feature.

A probable Roman roadside ditch was exposed during evaluation of the Dorchester Police Station site in 2001 by AC archaeology (1) (2). The ditch ran parallel and about 7.5 m from Weymouth Avenue (which is thought to be on the same line as the Roman road to Radipole). The ditch was 1.8m wide and 0.7m wide with a V-shaped profile. A primary fill of pale yellowish-brown clay silt was sealed by a layer brown silty clay which filled the ditch and contained a single sherd of Roman coarseware pottery, oyster shell and animal bone. The ditch was cut through the pre-Roman buried soil layer (2).

This ditch is on the same line as the ditch exposed during the construction of the South Station approach in 1986 (3) and at Stationmaster's House in 1988 (4) and is undoubtedly the same feature.

<1> Whelan, J, 2001, Dorchester, Weymouth Avenue. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 131 (Article in serial). SDO9609.

<2> Whelan, J, 2001, Archaeological Observations at the Dorchester Police Headquarters Site, Dorchester, Dorset: Results of Archaeological Monitoring (Unpublished document). SDO9608.

<3> Pearce, P, 1986, 'Observations at South Station, Dorchester' Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 180 (Article in serial). SDO9563.

<4> Bellamy, P S, 1989, Excavations at the Stationmaster's House, Weymouth Avenue, Dorchester (Unpublished document). SDO9562.

<5> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1431035 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Nov 2 2023 7:27AM