Monument record MDO18632 - County Hall; Late Roman Building 572

Building 572 was discovered during excavations at County Hall in 1988, fronting the re-metalled N-S street 457. It was located in the SE corner of a part walled, part ditched enclosure surrounding RCHME monument 183. The north wall footings survived in two short sections but the west and south walls lay outside the excavation and the supposed position of the east wall was truncated by a series of post-medieval features. Three postholes may be related to the structure. The internal floor of the building was composed of an inconsistent chalk spread laid directly on top of the chalk bedrock. The floor was cut by a series of postholes and slots. A rectangular room was defined by postholes and further subdivided by a slot. Two neonate infant burials were cut through and then sealed by the chalk floor in the south and south west of the rectangular room.

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).

Building [572] was sited to the west of street [575]. Externally the building was at least 9m long and 7m wide. The north wall survived as two short sections of mortared flints below a single course of flint walling no more than 0.65m wide. These two sections survived where the wall line crossed the earlier ditches [435] and [155]. At these points a foundation trench had been dug through the ditch fills, elsewhere the wall may have been placed directly on top of bedrock. The west and south walls lay outside the excavated area and the supposed position of the east wall was severely truncated by post-medieval activity. Three post holes [560], [564] and [569], may have been associated, but were stratigraphically unrelated to other construction features. The largest of these, [560] contained a coin of Trajan (AD230-260) in its base.

Internally, the floor of the building was composed of an inconsistent chalk spread, laid directly on top of chalk bedrock to a maximum thickness of 0.08m. The latest feature to be sealed by the floor was oven [499] which contained late 3rd-early 4th century material in its lower fills. The chalk floor had been resurfaced with limestone paving slabs, where the original surface had subsided into the top of ditch [435]. The small quantity of Black Burnished Ware pottery recovered from the floor was of 3rd or 4th century date. A copper alloy bracelet was also recovered from this deposit.

The chalk floor had been cut by a series of postholes and slots. One rectangular room within the building, 2.2m wide and c.6m long, was defined by postholes [429], [426], [410], [406], [408], [541] and [556], which may have been subdivided by slot [416]. Two other slots were stratigraphically unrelated to the chalk surface but were parallel to the north wall and are probably associated with the building, possibly as slots for timber beams. The fills of these features contained late 3rd-4th century material, bone pins, a shale spindle whorl and a copper alloy bracelet.

Two neonate infant burials aged c.6 months were recovered from graves cut through and then sealed below the chalk floor in the SW of the rectangular room. The remains of four other infants, either foetal or of neonate age, were recovered from the rubble layers sealing the chalk floor of building [572]. Three fragments of window glass and quantities of building material were recovered from the rubble layers sealing the chalk floor, and presumably represent parts of the collapsed superstructure of the building.

Two pits, [508] and [502] lay to the NE of building 572 on the line of street [575], although at this point no street surfaces survived. The pits were 1.2m in diameter, circular in plan and over 0.65m deep. They had been backfilled with rubbish including 3rd century BBW.

Building [572] was of simple construction, comparable to many buildings identified on the periphery of the town. It may have served a combination of functions including workshop, store and accomodation. A smith’s punch and possible objects of scrap metal may suggest metalworking. Tools included an iron hoe, a knife, a quern fragment and a spindle whorl. Household objects included bracelets, possible iron lamp, four counters of stone, glass or bead, bone pins and a possible BBW ‘feeding cup’

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