Monument record MDO19050 - Roman building, Primitive Methodist Chapel, Durngate Street, Dorchester

In 1905, a tesselated floor was exposed during the construction of a new schoolroom attached to the Primitive Methodist Chapel (now the Salvation Army Hall) on Durngate Street, Dorchester. The mosaic was lifted and relaid in the Dorset County Museum. No trace of the walls or any other component of the associated building has been recorded. The mosaic comprises a square panel with an unusual central floral motif surrounded by circles and interlaced squares with canthari in the corners, flanked by two rectangular panels with guilloche and swastika-meander. A mid-fourth century AD date has been suggested for the mosaic, which is the only reasonably certain example of the 'Durnovarian School' found in Dorchester.

On 30 June 1905, a tesselated floor was exposed during the construction of a new schoolroom attached to the Primitive Methodist Chapel (now the Salvation Army Hall) on Durngate Street, Dorchester (1).

The whole of the floor was exposed, except for the western edge, which continued below the boundary wall into the adjacent property (2 pl.223). The exposed floor measured 6.46m by 3.85m across (3) and was lifted and relaid in the Dorset County Museum (2) (4). The floor was found at a depth of 1.05m below the surface (2). None of the walls of the building were exposed or recorded.

The mosaic comprises a square panel flanked by two rectangular panels. The central panel has an unusual central floral design in a circle surrounded by a pair of interlaced squares of guilloche, partly interlinked with a larger outer circle. In the corners are canthari. Two diagonally opposing canthari have two snakes emerging from them. The southern rectangular panel has swastika-meander framed by guilloche. The northern rectangle has spaced swastika-meander enclosing a pair of guilloche knots and a twist of guilloche. The mosaic had a coarse red border, which was not lifted (3).

No dating evidence or floor plan of the building was obtained, but a mid-fourth century AD date has been suggested for the mosaic (3). This is the only reasonably certain example of the 'Durnovarian School' found in Dorchester (3).

<1> 1905, 'Another find of Roman Pavement' Dorset County Chronicle, 4 (Article in serial). SDO9777.

<2> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 3, 566, no. 202 (Monograph). SDO150.

<3> Cosh, S R, and Neal, D S, 2005, Roman Mosaics of Britain. Volume II South-west Britain, 99-101 (Monograph). SDO10182.

<4> Colley March, H, 1906, 'Roman Pavements' Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club, 239 (Article in serial). SDO9778.

<5> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1410249 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Aug 22 2024 7:35PM