Monument record MDO18321 - Roman hearths, WDDC car park, Colliton Street, Dorchester

The remains of three small hearths were seen in section during a watching brief carried out by Terrain Archaeology in 2000 during the replacement of a retaining wall. The hearths were all similar in size and character and comprised small shallow flat-bottomed cuts filled primarily with ash and charcoal. They were all found together in the northern part of the site and only one was in use at a time. The earliest hearth contained a single 2nd century AD sherd of Black Burnished Ware. Not enough of this area was exposed to be certain of the nature and function of the hearths, but it is likely that they all performed the same function and were replacements for each other.

The remains of three small hearths were seen in section during a watching brief carried out by Terrain Archaeology in 2000 during the replacement of a retaining wall (1) (2). The numbers in square brackets are context numbers used in the report and archive (1).

The hearths [143, 150, 153] were all similar in size and character and comprised small shallow flat-bottomed cuts, about 1.7m across, filled primarily with ash and charcoal. They were all found together in the northern part of the site and only one was in use at a time. The earliest hearth [150] contained a single 2nd century AD sherd of Black Burnished Ware. This hearth was sealed beneath a thin layer of soil, through which the second hearth [143] was cut. This, in turn was sealed by another layer of soil, which was cut by the third hearth in the sequence [153].

Not enough of this area was exposed to be certain of the nature and function of the hearths, but it is likely that they all performed the same function and were replacements for each other.

<1> Bellamy, P, 2000, West Dorset District Council Car Park, Colliton Street, Dorchester, Dorset: Archaeological Observations (Unpublished document). SDO9517.

<2> Bellamy, P S, 2000, Dorchester, WDDC Car Park, Colliton Street. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 173 (Article in serial). SDO9518.

<3> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1431033 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Aug 22 2024 7:28PM