Monument record MDO18628 - County Hall: Late Iron Age/Early Roman Field Boundaries

Three linear ditches were found running NE-SW across the excavations undertaken by Wessex Archaeology at County Hall in 1998. They are stratigraphically earlier than the N-S Roman street that crosses this area and probably represent the remnants of a pre-existing field system prior to the laying out and construction of the Roman Town of Durnovaria. They appear to have been filled in during the late 1st century AD and are unlikely to have been constructed earlier than the 1st century AD, late in the Pre-Roman Iron Age. Two parallel ditches may define a track or drove way leading from the top of the chalk spur to a ford or crossing of the River Frome. The third ditch appears to be a recutting of the western of these ditches.

Found during the excavations carried out by Wessex Archaeology in 1988 prior to construction of the New Computer Wing and car parking facilities at County Hall, Dorchester (1) (2). The numbers in square brackets below refer to the context and feature numbers used in the published report (1).

A number of early Roman or immediately pre-Roman ditches were found crossing the site,and which pre-date the construction of the Roman street [575]. Two parallel ditches [48] and [119] ran in a NE-SW alignment across the middle of the site and measured 1.5m wide and 0.45m deep. They were s[aced seven metres apart and may define a trackway, although there was no evidence of associated surfaces or rutting of the natural chalk surface within the area defined by the ditches. They appear to have been infilled gradually, with the primary silts containing small quantities of worked flint and animal bone. Small quantities of Corfe Mullen ware and a sherd of early Flavian samian from the upper fills suggests that they were filled up by the end of the 1st century AD.

A third ditch, [88], cut across the western ditch [48] and its alignment and the nature of its fill suggests that it is broadly contemporary with ditches [48] and [119]. It was slightly curvilinear but was generally aligned NE-SW. It may represent the recutting of the boundary defined by ditch [48]. Material from the upper fills suggested it was filled in by the 2nd century AD.

The easternmost ditch [119] was cut by a pit [267], which was backfilled by the end of the 1st century. The primary metalling of street [575] sealed the eastern ditch [48].

The most likely interpretation of the ditches is that they represent field boundaries of a pre-existing field system prior to the laying out of the Roman Town of Durnovaria. They are an addition to a number of earthworks that pre-date the layout of the Roman town. These features add to the evidence from elsewhere that the early Roman urban development and street grid was laid out over established pastureland that contains little or no material of Late Iron Age date.

Wessex Archaeology, 1988, County Hall, Colliton Park, Dorchester (Excavation archive). SDO10074.

<1> Smith, R J C, 1993, Excavations at County Hall, Colliton Park, Dorchester, Dorset, 1988 in the North-West Quarter of Durnovaria (Monograph). SDO9660.

<2> Smith, R J C, 1988, 'Excavations at County Hall, Colliton Park, Dorchester, 1988' Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society (Article in serial). SDO9661.

Record last edited

Aug 22 2024 7:30PM