Monument record MDO19098 - 18 Icen Way, Dorchester; Roman building

An apparently in situ Roman tessellated floor was seen in a cottage on Icen Way in c. 1850, where it served as the floor of the back kitchen or wash house. The mosaic was apparently a small square floor of red, black and white coarse tesserae. This floor, together with a scatter of tesserae in the adjoining gardens, are the only recorded evidence for a Roman building in this area, presumably a house. Other mosaics and fragments have been found in the area immediately to the south around All Saints Road, which may be part of the same building.

An apparently in situ Roman tessellated floor was seen in a cottage on Icen Way in c. 1850, where it served as the floor of the back kitchen or wash house (1) (2) (3). The mosaic was apparently a small square floor of red, black and white coarse tesserae (4). This floor, together with a scatter of tesserae in the adjoining gardens (5), are the only recorded evidence for a Roman building in this area, presumably a house. Other mosaics and fragments have been found in the area immediately to the south around All Saints Road, which may be part of the same building (5).

A very fine tessellated pavement was described in 1852 as having been lately discovered in `a garden behind a house in one of the back-streets towards the south-east' (of Dorchester). This cannot be precisely located unless it is a garbled reference to the mosaic found in the cottage now occupied by 18, Icen Way. The latter was described as a square mosaic of red, black and white tesserae which was still in use as the kitchen floor of the cottage until 1850. Location is that of 18 Icen way. <6>

<1> Moule, H J, n. d., Notes made by Mr H. J. Moule on Roman mosaic floors found in or around Dorchester, No. 11 (Unpublished document). SDO10092.

<2> Moule, H J, 1901, Dorchester Antiquities, 16-17 (Bibliographic reference). SDO9439.

<3> Moule, H J, 1906, Dorchester Antiquities, 36-7 (Bibliographic reference). SDO9552.

<4> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 3, 567, no.204b (Monograph). SDO150.

<5> Cosh, S R, and Neal, D S, 2005, Roman Mosaics of Britain. Volume II South-west Britain, 106 (Monograph). SDO10182.

<6> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1410298 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Aug 22 2024 7:36PM