SDO9580 - An Archaeological Evaluation of a Proposed New Access Path to the Roman Town House, Colliton Park, Dorchester, Dorset

An archaeological evaluation comprising the excavation of a single trench on the line of a proposed new access for visitors to the Roman Town House, Colliton Park, Dorchester, was carried out by AC archaeology during February 2000. A single trench 2 m by 1 m across was excavated and this revealed intact Romano-British deposits at a depth below existing ground levels of 800 mm on the east side of the trench and 1.10 m on the west side of the trench. These comprised probable evidence for the Roman town ramparts, consisting of a thick sandy clay soil deposit overlain by a chalk ‘capping’. Also present was a deep steep-sided cut on the west side of the trench, which may represent the construction trench for the town defensive wall, considered to have been inserted during the 4th century AD, cutting into the existing bank. Overlying these deposits were levelling or infilling deposits of post-medieval and modern date.