SDO9511 - St Genevieve’s Convent Site, South Walks, Dorchester: Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment and Field Evaluation

The site lies outside the southern boundary wall of the Roman town of Durnovaria and covers slightly under 3 ha and is bounded to the north by South Walks, on the east by Culliford Road North, to the south by York Road and by the telephone exchange to the west. Two Scheduled Monuments impinge on the site (Dorset 648 and Dorset 849). The presently known archaeological content of the site comprises two outer ditches and the countersdcarp bank of the Roman defences. There is no evidence for occupation of the site during the post-Roman period, and during the medieval period the site appears to have been used as strip fields. The 1779 map of Fordington indicates strip fields covering the area and no buildings, though it is possible that the Dairyhouse shown on the 1841 Tithe Map may have been a later 18th century build. Little further development took place until the 19th century when South Court and its associated 19th century outbuildings were constructed. The desk-based assessment concluded that in addition to the anticipated Scheduled Monument, on the basis of other investigations in Dorchester, that there was a demonstrated potential for archaeological remains, particularly of Roman and earlier date. In particular, the potential for Roman burials within or adjacent to the Roman defences was considered high. The subsequent field evaluation comprised complimentary geophysical and auger surveys, coupled with a series of trial trenches. Other than the a series of responses identified as modern features, etc., the geophysical survey revealed a linear anomaly slightly to the north of the counterscarp bank. This feature, situated within the Scheduled Monument has been interpreted as a ditch or a series of closely spaced pits. The results of the auger survey and trial pits combined to identify the middle and outer defensive ditches for Durnovaria, as well as the counterscarp bank. The chalk counterscarp bank was examined in detail in Trench 1 and was seen to comprise at least two phases of construction with a secondary bank deposited against the outer face of a primary bank. A buried soil was recorded beneath the counterscarp bank. Although the general sequence of defences had been anticipated on the basis of earlier investigations elsewhere, the east to west line of the features was recorded c. 20 m to the north of their predicted route. The southern limit of the Roman defensive circuit therefore follows the approximate line of the south edge of the gravel terrace outside South Court House. No other features of archaeological significance were identified within the evaluation area. Appendix 6 contains a report on geophysical survey conducted by GSB.