Monument record MDO18547 - Alington Avenue Post-Roman Building 4435

Evidence for a Post-Roman building was discovered during excavations at Alington Avenue. Building [4435] was located immediately east of the stone-footed building [459], cutting across the D-shaped enclosure. It was represented by a complex of shallow post-holes forming a rectangular structure aligned approximately ESE-WSW with possible associated fence lines. The post-holes varied greatly in their dimensions. No definitive ground plan and sequence can be established and it is possible that there are several successive structures occupying the same ground plan. This basic ground plan seems to consist of a rectangular building c. 16m x 5.5m with a floor area of c. 88m2 and defined by a double row of posts on the northern, eastern and southern sides. There was no good evidence for the western wall. A row of posts within the building, 0.8m from the southern wall may be roof supports. The eastern end of the building was divided off by a partition. There may have been a 1.2m wide doorway in the middle of the southern wall. The plan of the building is best understood as being based on a series of three square units laid end to end with the eastern one partitioned off and the doorway in the centre of the middle unit.

Found during a series of archaeological evaluations and excavations conducted by Wessex Archaeology at Alington Avenue, Fordington, Dorchester, between 1984-1987. The results of the excavations have been published as a Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society Monograph (DNHAS Monograph 15). The numbers in square brackets below refer to the context and feature numbers used in the published reports (1).

A spread of post-holes recorded across the centre of the site could be resolved into a small number of rectangular structures and alignments, all roughly parallel to the latest phase of Roman ditched boundaries. These structures were post-built with no surviving floor surfaces rendering the interpretation of their plans uncertain. There was only one clear building plan [1234] in the eastern end of the site and at least three other rectangular structures further to the west. The remaining post-hole alignments can be best understood as the vestiges of contemporary fence-lines. A possible sunken featured building [752] may also have been contemporary. Most finds were residual or intrusive but stratigraphical relationships suggest that these structures were relatively late in the site sequence. The buildings probably relate to a later land allotment system, which is either very late or post-Roman in date.

Building [4435] was located immediately east of the stone-footed building [459], cutting across the D-shaped enclosure. It was represented by a complex of shallow post-holes forming a rectangular structure aligned approximately ESE-WSW with possible associated fence lines. The post-holes varied greatly in their dimensions. No definitive ground plan and sequence can be established and it is possible that there are several successive structures occupying the same ground plan. This basic ground plan seems to consist of a rectangular building c. 16m x 5.5m with a floor area of c. 88m2 and defined by a double row of posts on the northern, eastern and southern sides. There was no good evidence for the western wall. A row of posts within the building, 0.8m from the southern wall may be roof supports. The eastern end of the building was divided off by a partition and there may have been a 1.2m wide doorway in the middle of the southern wall.

The plan of the building is best understood as being based on a series of three square units laid end to end with the eastern one partitioned off and the doorway in the centre of the middle unit. This proposed ground plan does not account for all the post-holes in the area, but it is suggested that many of these other post-holes may belong to fence lines. The line of the north wall was continued westwards by a series of post-holes and there was another series running northwards from the north wall about one third of the distance from the east end.

This ground plan is reminiscent of the early-medieval building tradition, although the surviving evidence is not sufficient to be certain of this attribution. However, the building seems to have closer affinities with this early medieval tradition than to any late Roman structure. Furthermore, the sole clearly Post-Roman artefact from the site, a possible 7th century lead alloy pendant was found in the top fill of well [1791], only 3m to the west. It is suggested then that the building date from the early-middle Saxon period.

<1> Davies, S M, Bellamy, P S , Heaton, M J , and Woodward, P J, 2002, Excavations at Alington Avenue, Fordington, Dorchester, Dorset, 1984-87 (Monograph). SDO9565.

Record last edited

Aug 29 2024 12:32PM