SDO14871 - Trinity Street, Dorchester, Dorset. Archaeological Evaluation Report.

‘Wessex Archaeology was commissioned by West Dorset District Council, to carry out an archaeological trial trench evaluation of land at Trinity Street, Dorchester (NGR 369140 090430). A planning application will be submitted for the construction of a single structure comprising a church or community building within the site and the Dorset County Archaeologist, (adviser to West Dorset District Council) has recommended an archaeological evaluation be undertaken ahead of the determination of the planning application to assess the archaeological potential of the Site. The evaluation, which consisted of three machine excavated trenches, confirmed that the Roman occupation deposits in this area of Trinity Street lie deeply stratified beneath post-medieval and modern made ground deposits. These were initially encountered at a depth of between 1.68m to 2.30m below modern ground level (approx. 62.4-63m aOD). The depth at which these deposits were encountered during this evaluation, is significantly deeper than recorded to both the north and south of the site, suggesting that this area of Dorchester lay at a lower level in the Romano-British period and has subsequently been levelled upwards. The evaluation was undertaken between the 15th and the 17th July 2013.’