Monument record MDO18930 - Early Roman timber building, Greenings Court, Dorchester

Excavations at Greenings Court in 1970 found evidence of a Roman street and building. The Roman material was represented by 4 phases spanning the 1st to 4th centuries.

SY69439082. Examination of an area of 200 square metres at Greening's Court, High Street in 1970, established Roman occupation of the 1st-4th centuries. In the northern part of the site were the remains of a 1st century timber building with a cobbled east-west road and two small gullys to the south; a fence separated the occupation area from the road. In the 2nd century, wood ash was deposited over the collapsed 1st century building; large amounts of pottery, including Samian, were in the ash. At the end of the century, footings of part of a building, possibly with a wooden superstructure, were dug into the ash. In the 3rd century, rubble from a demolished hypocaust was dumped to the east of the building. The hypocaust was to the west of the excavated area.

Two further remetallings of the road were carried out in the 4th century. One contained 20 bronze coins, most dating from Constantine I, in the early 4th century. There was also bronze slag, suggesting bronze-working nearby. <1>

<1> Putnam, W G , Bradley, R , Viner, D, and Greene, P, 1971, 'Excavations for the Dorchester Excavation Committee, Interim Report, 1970' Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society (Article in serial). SDO9680.

<2> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1147720 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Aug 22 2024 7:34PM