Monument record MDO19415 - Dorset County Hospital, Dorchester; Early Roman sunken building G639

This early Roman sunken featured structure was found during excavations by Wessex Archaeology in advance of the redevelopment of the former Dorset County Hospital, Dorchester in 2000-2001. It was a large sub-rectangular sunken feature, about 7m by 5m across, in the eastern end of Block 2. This structure had been heavily robbed and subsequently backfilled with dumps of soil and building debris. Part of an unmortared flint footing survived within the feature and a small pit cut into the flat base of the structure may have been contemporary. A similar structure was excavated at Alington Avenue, where a ground-level wooden floor was postulated and a possible crop-storage function suggested.

This early Roman sunken featured structure was found during excavations by Wessex Archaeology in advance of the redevelopment of the former Dorset County Hospital, Dorchester in 2000-2001.

Feature G639 was a large sub-rectangular sunken feature, about 7m by 5m across, in the eastern end of Block 2. This structure had been heavily robbed and subsequently backfilled with dumps of soil and building debris. Part of an unmortared flint footing survived within the feature and a small pit cut into the flat base of the structure may have been contemporary (1).

A similar structure was excavated at Alington Avenue, where a ground-level wooden floor was postulated and a possible crop-storage function suggested (2).

<1> Trevarthen, M, 2006, Bentleigh Cross Limited Former County Hospital Site Dorchester, Dorset. Internal Post-excavation Assessment. (Unpublished document). SDO10014.

<2> Davies, S M, Bellamy, P S , Heaton, M J , and Woodward, P J, 2002, Excavations at Alington Avenue, Fordington, Dorchester, Dorset, 1984-87, 65-66 (Monograph). SDO9565.

Record last edited

Aug 22 2024 7:39PM