SDO9411 - Excavations at the Old Methodist Chapel and Greyhound Yard, Dorchester, 1981-1984

The results of two major, and adjacent, campaigns of excavation undertaken within the Roman, medieval and modern town of Dorchester, tribal and urban centre of the Durotriges and the county town of Dorset, are presented. The excavations were carried out on the sites of the old Methodist Chapel in 1981 (190 m2) and Greyhound Yard in 1984 (2175 m2); both were substantially funded by English Heritage. The results have provided the first opportunity for the total analysis of a large area within the confines of the Roman town (Durnovaria) and a wider appreciation of their contribution both to the development of Durnovaria, and to the study of urban topography in the Roman province. Beneath the Roman remains, and lying in a dry valley masked by the later urban deposits, were discovered traces of one of the largest Neolithic monuments known in Britain. The earliest features discovered, the Neolithic monument, were an arc of 21 massive pits which could be shown to be the settings for the timbers of a post-enclosure of considerable dimensions. Analysis showed that the timbers were oak trunks of about one metre diameter, set about one metre apart within a postulated circuit of 380 metres diameter. This circuit has been confirmed by the exposure and study of other identical pits in more recent excavations to the north and south. The study of environmental evidence, together with radiocarbon dating, showed that the monument was constructed in a woodland environment in the later Neolithic, c. 2400BC, and as such would have been contemporary with the henges of Mount Pleasant and Maumbury. The projection of the known post-arcs suggests that the monument may have been designed to enclose the chalk coombe across which Dorchester is built. By the 2nd millennium BC the monument had been reduced to an earthwork and incorporated into a field system which remained in use until the early 1st century. In the middle of the 1st century AD a grid of roads was set out and the insulae of the Roman town were developed. Within the excavated area, which represents c. 35% of a single insula, a series of rectangular timber buildings were erected along the north and east streets. The buildings backed on to an area of enclosures defined by gullies and fences. The detailed pattern of land settlement underwent various modifications during the 1st and 2nd centuries, prior to an extensive rebuilding in stone, of the main ranges of structures which now encroached over the culverts of the earlier streets. The first stone buildings roughly reflected the earlier timber structures in terms of number, plan and location, but by the earlier 4th century the area was divided between two major building complexes and their respective rear land holdings. The substantial town house on the northern frontage contrasted in style with a large aisled hall or barn and other structures to the east. This latter complex appears to have appropriated much of the land in the centre of the insula and, in the late 4th century, was developed into a completely new courtyard house. At the very end of the Roman period this house was subdivided to form a series of separate and smaller accommodation units. Following robbing of the Roman buildings, the area was used for arable agriculture. It was not until the 12th/13th century that urban evidence recurs with the construction of burgage plots along the newly established medieval streets. The plots were backed by one of the open fields. The burgage plots were gradually merged to form a single close, owned by John Seward, by 1400. By 1600 a back lane had been inserted.