Monument record MDO18822 - Parson's Store, Durngate Street, Dorchester; Roman ovens

SY69429068. Roman well and ovens found on the site of the non-Conformist Chapel in Durngate Street in 1981 prior to redevelopment.

At the north end of the site, a well-preserved east-west metalled road crossed the site. On the east side of the site and south of the road, were two parallel robbed building foundations and chalk floors from which 2nd century material was recovered. In the south-east corner of the site there were two large ovens, and to the west at the Durngate Street frontage, a stained well-shaft which had been back-filled with chalk in the Roman period. In the centre of the site, 120m south of the road, the contractor's trench cut through a local disturbance at least 3.0m deep, on an east-west line. In the baseof this, tumbled masonry and 1st century pottery were exposed in a narrow trench cut into the natural rock. This feature may have been the main drain parallel to the street and presumably continuing to the east under the building. (1)

<1> Sparey Green, C, 1981, Parsons Store Site, Durngate Street, Dorchester, 1981. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society. (Article in serial). SDO9874.

<2> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1430549 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Aug 22 2024 7:32PM