Monument record MDO18464 - Poundbury Post-Roman Structure PR5

Post-Roman Structure PR5 was discovered in the southeast part of Late Roman enclosure 3, during the 1966-79 excavations at Poundbury, Dorchester. This possible structure was originally considered to be a post-built extension to mausoleum R9, but a later reappraisal of the post-Roman settlements judged this to be a separate post-built structure squeezed between mausoleum R9 and the southern enclosure boundary of the settlement. It comprised two partial parallel rows of rectangular post-holes with a gully marking the position of the western wall and a possible corner post in the SE corner, defining a rectangular building. Structure PR5a was assigned, along with buildings PR1a, PR2b, PR3a, PR15, and possibly PR14; pit groups ii-v; grain driers 1,2,3 & 5 to phase 1 of the post-Roman settlement. This represented the earliest post-Roman settlement on the site of the late Roman cemetery.

Found during the excavations directed by Christopher Sparey Green, for the Dorchester Excavation Committee, between 1966 and 1979 during development of the Grove Trading Estate on the eastern slopes of Poundbury Camp, Dorchester (1). The numbers in square brackets below refer to the context and feature numbers used in the published excavation report and archive (1)(2). Further refinement of the post-Roman settlement sequence has been undertaken by Christopher Sparey Green since the initial publication of the site and this has been taken into account in the following description (3) (4).

This possible structure was originally considered to be a post-built extension to mausoleum R9 (1), although a later reappraisal of the post-Roman settlements judged this to be a separate post-built structure squeezed between R9 and the southern enclosure boundary of the settlement (3). It comprised two partial parallel rows of rectangular post-holes; the north wall represented by [E67], [E63], [E66] & [E325]; the central row possibly supported a roof and comprised [E30] & [E65]. A gully [E10] may have marked the position of the western wall and a possible corner post [E316] the SE corner. This defines a building approximately 6m long E-W and 4m wide N-S.

This feature was assigned, along with buildings PR1a, PR2a, PR3a, PR15, and possibly PR14; pit groups ii-v; grain driers 1,2,3 & 5 to phase 1 of the post-Roman settlement. This represented the earliest post-Roman settlement on the site of the late Roman cemetery (3).

<1> Sparey Green, C, 1987, Excavations at Poundbury, Dorchester, Dorset 1966-1982. Volume 1: The Settlements (Monograph). SDO9630.

<2> Sparey Green, C, 1966-1979, Poundbury, Grove Trading Estate, Dorchester (Excavation archive). SDO10096.

<3> Sparey Green, C J, 1996, Poundbury, Dorset: settlement and economy in the Late and post-Roman Dorchester (Article in monograph). SDO10040.

<4> Sparey Green, C J, Living amongst the dead: From Roman cemetery to post-Roman monastic settlement at Poundbury (Article in monograph). SDO10041.

Record last edited

Aug 3 2010 5:31PM