Monument record MDO18490 - Grove Garage, Dorchester; Roman defences

Part of the outer and middle ditches of the Roman town defences on the western side of Durnovaria were exposed during works in 1988 observed by Wessex Archaeology on the site of the former Grove Garage, The Grove, Dorchester. The outer ditch had a V-shaped profile and was about 5m wide and 2.3m deep. At the base of the ditch there was a shallow flat-bottomed gully, which was interpreted as a cleaning gully. The ditch was mainly filled iwth a homogenous layer of dark brown soil from which a single sherd of late 3rd-4th century New Forest indented beaker was recovered. Only part of the western edge of the middle ditch was exposed, most of it lying to the east of the site beneath The Grove. No trace of the counterscarp bank was noted.

Parts of the outer and middle ditches of the Roman town defences on the western side of Durnovaria were exposed during works in 1988 observed by Wessex Archaeology on the site of the former Grove Garage, The Grove, Dorchester (1) (2) (3).

The outer ditch had a V-shaped profile and was about 5m wide and 2.3m deep. At the base of the ditch there was a shallow flat-bottomed gully, which was interpreted as a cleaning gully. The lower fills were found on the eastern side of the ditch only and consisted of two layers of eroded and weathered chalk. A single sherd of Black burnished ware pottery was recovered from the base of these layers. The major part of the ditch was filled with a homogenous dark brown soil from which a single sherd of late 3rd-4th century New Forest indented beaker was recovered.

Only part of the western edge of the middle ditch was exposed, most of it lying to the east of the site beneath The Grove. There was a gap of about 7.5m between the outer and middle ditches. It is unclear how much erosion of the ground surface there has been on this site, but originally this gap may have been narrower. The character of the lower fills in the outer ditch may indicate the former position of a bank between the two ditches.

No trace of the counterscarp bank was noted during the observations on this site.

Heaton, M, 1988, Archaeological Observations at the Grove Garage, Dorchester, Dorset (Unpublished document). SDO9897.

Heaton, M, 1988, Archaeological Observations at the Grove Garage, Dorchester, Dorset (Unpublished document). SDO9897.

Davies, S M, 1989, Other Sites in Dorchester. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 109-110 (Article in serial). SDO9854.

Frere, S S, 1989, 'Roman Britain in 1988: 1. Sites explored' Britannia, 352 (Article in serial). SDO10073.

Frere, S S, 1990, 'Roman Britain in 1989: 1. Sites explored' Britannia, 352 (Article in serial). SDO10046.

Record last edited

Aug 22 2024 7:29PM