Monument record MDO18369 - Ling's Extension, Acland Road, Dorchester; Roman road

The western edge of a N-S Roman road with flanking ditch to the west were observed during the groundworks for the construction of a new building at Henry Ling's, Acland Road, Dorchester in 1978. Two major phases of sand and gravel road metalling were identified. Some unabraded late Roman pottery was recovered from the later road make-up. No profile of the flanking ditch on the west side was obtained, but it was more fully excavated as part of the Greyhound Yard excavations. A further part of the this road was observed immediately to the east during the excavation of a gas pipe in 1979.

Traces of the west side of a N-S Roman road with flanking ditch to the west were observed during the groundworks for the construction of a new building at Henry Ling's, Acland Road, Dorchester in 1978. The Roman road was constructed on a layer of brown loam on top of the natural chalk. Two major units of road metalling were recognised. The lower road metalling had a 0.15m thick rammed chalk rubble base at the north end of the site. Elsewhere the base of the road metalling was constructed directly on the top of the brown loam layer. This comprised a 0.45m thick layer of gravel and flints in brown soil with a thin compacted gravel surface. The lower surface was separated from the upper surface by a thin layer of grey silt. The upper road metalling comprised 0.4m of greyish yellow sand, capped by clean sand with a compacted surface of gravel and brick fragments. Some unabraded late Roman pottery was recovered from the later road make-up. The upper surface of the Roman road was encountered between 0.25-0.4m below the surface.

No profile of the flanking ditch on the west side was obtained, but it was filled with grey sandy soil. This ditch was more fully excavated as part of the Greyhound Yard excavations, where it was recorded as ditch 5354. A further part of the this road was observed immediately to the east during the excavation of a gas pipe in 1979.

Wessex Archaeology, 1956-1985, Greyhound Yard, Dorchester (Excavation archive). SDO10029.

Wessex Archaeology, 1956-1985, Greyhound Yard, Dorchester, W66.7 (Excavation archive). SDO9916.

Keen, L, 1979, Dorset Archaeology in 1979. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 135 (Article in serial). SDO9647.

Woodward, P J , Davies, S M , and Graham, A H, 1993, Excavations at the Old Methodist Chapel and Greyhound Yard, Dorchester, 1981-1984, p5, observation 7 (Monograph). SDO9411.

Record last edited

Aug 22 2024 7:29PM