Monument record MDO47875 - Roman building, Dorset County Hospital, Somerleigh Road, Dorchester

Roman build ing remains noted during construction of the County Hospital between 1922-1949.

SY69049058. Pit with C4th pottery and tesserae in its filing.
SY69049056. Pit containing clinker.
SY69029054. 3 foot wide ditch.
SY69059055. Post holes. Sherds of Romano-British coarse ware, the base of a New Forest Ware pot. Fragments of roof tiles, and sherds of later pottery were picked up from various spoil heaps.
SY69019054. Pit containing good quality painted wall plaster, a brooch nearby was probably of Claudian date.
SY69039054. A turned bronze brooch of `Hod Hill' type and sherds of white flagons from the area were probably of mid 1st century date.
SY69049053. A stone lined and covered drain.
SY69099058. Chalk floor.
SY69049063. A late C4th silver hoard of over 50 siliquae buried circa 400 with 5 spoons and a pronged ligula was found in 1898-9. The coins ranged from Julian II to Honorius (360-400 CE) with one, probably intrusive, coin of Licinius (317 BCE). The inscription `AUGUSTINE VIVAS' on the bowl of one spoon, and a fish inscribed on another, together with the ligula, suggest a liturgical use, and implies the presence of a Christian community in the late C4th. (1-4)

<1> Dalton, O M, 1922, Roman Spoons from Dorchester. Antiquaries Journal, 89-92 (Article in serial). SDO9795.

<2> Farrar, R A H, 1949, Dorchester, County Hospital, Somerleigh Road. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 63-64 (Article in serial). SDO9756.

<3> Peers, R N R, 1959, Recent discoveries in Dorchester. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 101-102 (Article in serial). SDO20578.

<4> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 3, 536, 562 (Monograph). SDO150.

<5> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1410233 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Aug 22 2024 7:41PM