Monument record MDO47515 - Durngate, Dorchester

The Mediaeval Durngate may have owed its importance, if not its origin, to the need for a more convenient exit to Fordington; a minor gate hereabouts could have served the Roman cemetery, which seems unrelated to the London Road across the Frome valley, but that it was not at the foot of Durngate Street seems clear from the incidence of Roman buildings either certainly, or probably under, the street. The direction of Roman street SY69SE324 across Wollaston Field may point to a Roman gate just to the north of the gasholders, although investigations of the rampart there in 1965 suggest that it was uninterrupted. A keeper was appointed to the two east gates in 1642. One of these may have been Durngate. <1-2>

<1> Shipp, W, and Hodson, J W (eds), 1863, The History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset. 3rd edition. Volume 2, 343 (Monograph). SWX1269.

<2> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 3, 550 (Monograph). SDO150.

<3> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1430747 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Aug 22 2024 7:41PM