Monument record MDO6649 - Roman building, Spa Hill, Radipole, Weymouth

A possible Roman building was discovered in 1937 when part of a floor was uncovered during digging of drains. Roman pottery and coins were also found.

Roman opus signinum floor found in 1937 at Spa Hill, Radipole. <1>

The floor was found at the rear of Mr S E Barretts house, No 112 (Spa Road) in a drain trench, about 1ft from the foundations of the NE corner of the house. It appeared to Mr Barrett to be only a few feet in area but was clearly in situ. During the building operations Mr Barrett collected fragments of Samian and coarse ware, three 4th century coins and a bronze, flat, bow brooch, (Collingwood type 18, 1st century AD). Mr K C C Selby observed Ro sherds in building trenches near numbers 112 and 114 in 1936. (SY 66948129). With the evidence of occupation observed in 1844 (SY 68 SE 1 an RB cemetery) & RB sherds, now in the Dorset County Museum, Accession No 1952-61-2, found at the rear of the houses on the west side of Mount Pleasant at A, SY 66978141, a substantial building or buildings is indicated. <2>

The ? Floor, three coins and the brooch are in Mr Barretts possession. One of the coins is of Gratian - (AD 367-383) and another of Constantine 1 - (AD 306-337). The ? Flooring, composed of mortar and rubble is only about 12ft square and 4inches thick and is considered too small to be positively identified as a floor in situ. Mr Barrett pointed out the exact spot where this ? Floor was found and the other finds were made 10 yards to the NW. No further information could be obtained regarding the finds. <3>

<1> Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies, 1938, Journal of Roman Studies 28, 194 (Serial). SWX2199.

<2> Farrar, R A H, 1952, Archaeological Fieldwork in Dorset in 1951 (Article in serial). SWX2107.

<3> Swatridge, G C, Various, Field Investigators Comments GCS, F1 GCS 28-JUL-54 (Unpublished document). SWX1169.

<4> Ordnance Survey, 1:2500 scale, 1956 (Map). SWX1197.

(SY66948129) Roman Remains found (NAT)

<5> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 3, 614-15 (Monograph). SDO150.

<6> Hewitt I, 1996, Roman Road, Radipole, Weymouth, An Archaeological Assessment (Unpublished document). SWX8652.

'Romano-British occupation debris, building materials (including a floor) and well-preserved human remains have been discovered within 200m of the proposed development site (SMR 437; Fig. 2). The density of the finds suggests that the Romano-British settlement was situated on Spa Hill. A second settlement area 0.7km SW at Southill is indicated by the evidence contained in paragraph 4.6.

Other finds from in and around Radipole Lake and the Backwater suggest the presence of trading settlemetns (Farrar 1951: 97). The main Roman road from Dorchester has not been convincinly traced in this area but a course close to the Radipole and Southill settlements might be indicated by Medhurst's 'Roman causeway' (paragraph 4.4 and Fig. 2).'

<7> National Record of the Historic Environment, 452591 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Dec 10 2022 8:40AM