Monument record MDO18630 - County Hall; early Roman activity east of Street 575

Eleven pits, of late 1st-late 2nd century date were found to the east of the N-S Roman street, during the 1988 Wessex Archaeology excavations at County Hall, Dorchester. Some of these features may have been chalk quarries and others were storage pits. Mmost were backfilled with cess and domestic rubbish. None of them seem to be directly associated with buildings or plots.

Found during the excavations carried out by Wessex Archaeology in 1988 prior to the 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 series of eleven pits dating from the late 1st to late 2nd centuries were found in the area to the east of Roman street [575]. The earliest, pit [297], was located close to the northern edge of the excavation area. It was nearly circular, 2m in diameter, square in profile, and 0.61m deep. It was probably excavated in the late 1st century AD and cut late Iron Age/Early Roman ditch [119]. Its function is unclear but it may have been used for the extraction of chalk.

A group of three similar and inter-cutting pits [261], [336] & [340], 8m to the south were probably of similar early date and function.

Five pits, [27], [31], [200], [202], & [267] may have been used initially for storage, then subsequently may have served as cess-pits. Although none contained obvious cess deposits, the character of some of the material from these pits suggests the incorporation of cess during backfilling. All five were deliberately and rapidly infilled, with pits [31], [27], and [267] backfilled by the late 1st or early 2nd centuries. This group of three were located to the west of the intercutting pits [261], [336] & [340], all were over 2m deep and 1m-1.5m in diameter, with near vertical sides. Pits [202] and [200] contained material of the late 2nd and early 3rd centuries, although neither feature was fully excavated. This pair was located further south, towards the southern edge of the site.

A further deep pit with similar dimensions to those above (1.2m diameter and 2m deep) was observed during construction work, 7m south of the SE corner of the excavated area. No dateable finds were recovered from its fill.

There were no buildings associated with these features and no indication of plots or properties to which these pits were attached despite the presence of roofing tiles and a piece of painted wall plaster in pit [27].

Two isolated pits, [223] & [227], may belong to this period, although neither contained much dateable material. They were located near the SE corner of the site. They tended to be wide (1m-2m diameter) and shallow (0.2m-0.3m deep) with near vertical sides and flat bases.

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, 147 (Article in serial). SDO9661.

Record last edited

Aug 22 2024 7:30PM