Monument record MDO47516 - East Gate, Dorchester

In 1642 a keeper was appointed for the two East Gates, as well as the gate on Gallows Hill. <1>

Stukeley, writing in 1723, says there were 4 gates, one in the middle of each side. <2>

There is a little difficulty about the position of the East Gate. Hutchins stated that: "In making the new road (ie the London road) a little to the east of Seager's Orchard at the entrance to Dorchester, the Icknfield Road was discovered and crossed." The gate may have been at the end of Durngate Street. <3>

One of these gates was undoubtedly at the foot of High East Street. It was mentioned in 1410. It is likely that the Roman gate was also situated there. As to the second east Gate of 1642, in 1892, part of what seems certain to be a Roman road on the line of the present road was found when a sewer was being dug to drain the Noah's Ark public house. This points to the gate having been at the west end of Fordington High Street. <4>

Area centred SY69549073. The drain was plotted from a plan in the Borough Engineer's Office. The majority of it lies in the middle of, and in line with, Fordington High Street. The line of the Dorchester-Badbury Rings Roman road is not well enough known, and no constructive suggestion to resolve the position of the East Gate could be made. The course of the Roman eat wall is also conjectural. The area was investigated but no trace of the gate or wall was found. <5>

The line so postulated for the decumanus can be reconciled with an East Gate at the foot of High East Street, although the precise line of the Roman defences here is uncertain. Prolongation of the Stinsford alignment of the Roman road, which was apparently maintained without substantial alteration, if any, points distinctly south of the foot of the street, but an error of no more than 1 degree in estimating the alignment over the lost last mile of the road, would alter the location of the gate by circa 25 yards. <6>

Excavations have located the foundations of the southern bastion of the gate and part of the associated eastern approach road under the present road to the east of the Old House at Home, which would locate the gate at SY69549073. <7>

<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> Warne, C, 1872, Ancient Dorset (Monograph). SDO10094.

<3> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1891, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club, 142-3 (Serial). SDO7.

<4> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1893, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club, 52-3 (Serial). SDO8.

<5> 1954, Field Investigators Comments, F1 01-Sep-1954 (Unpublished document). SWX3839.

<6> 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.

<7> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1998, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1997, 174 (Serial). SDO12420.

<8> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1430734 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Aug 22 2024 7:41PM