Monument record MDO18619 - Applegates, 34 Trinity Street, Dorchester; Roman Street

The remains of a N-S Roman street were found during excavations on the site of Applegates, 34 Trinity Street , Dorchester in 1971. This road appears to be a primary feature of this part of the Roman town, but the earliest surviving layer of metalling was dated to the late 2nd century AD, suggesting that the road had been remade. The road had been repaired and subsequently remetalled in the 3rd or 4th century. A large quantity of wall-plaster and mortar debris was dumped on the upper surface of the road, probably the result of robbing of an adjacent building in the 4th century, which would seriously inhibit traffic, perhaps suggesting the road went out of use before the end of the Roman town.

The remains of a Roman street were found during excavations on the site of Applegates, 34 Trinity Street , Dorchester in 1971(1). The road was found oriented N-S along the east side of the excavation.

The road was over 3.5 m wide and traced for a distance of 13 m. The eastern edge of this road was not exposed. It was constructed directly on top of the pre-urban soils and consisted of a make-up layer 0.15m thick of flints in sandy gravel with a layer of compacted flint gravel and sand metalling. A number of repair patches were found on this surface. Subsequently the road was remetalled with another layer of sandy flint gravel. A layer of greenish sand overlay part of this surface.

This road appears to have been a primary feature, as there is no trace of occupation beneath it and it preserves the pre-urban soil. The lower metalling contains material dating to the late 2nd century AD and the upper metalling contained 3rd century AD finds. It is likely that the road had been remade completely in the second century, which would explain the lack of early Roman material in the earlier phase of road metalling.

A large quantity of wall-plaster and mortar debris was dumped on the upper surface of the road. This may be the result of robbing of an adjacent building in the 4th century. The fact that the material was dumped directly on the road surface suggests that it was still in use at the time, but the quantity of material dumped on it would suggest that traffic would be severely disrupted, perhaps suggesting the road went out of use before the end of the Roman town.

<1> O'Connor, B J, and Startin, W A, 1972, 'Excavations for the Dorchester Excavation Committee, Interim Report, 1971: 34 Trinity Street' Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society (Article in serial). SDO9889.

<2> Wilson, D R, 1972, 'Roman Britain in 1971: Southern Counties' Britannia, 345 (Article in serial). SDO9891.

<3> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1976, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1975, 52 (Serial). SDO75.

<4> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1430693 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Aug 22 2024 7:30PM