SDO9604 - Eldridge Pope Brewery Site, Dorchester, Dorset: Archaeological Desk-based Assessment

Wessex Archaeology was commissioned to undertake an archaeological desk-based assessment of the former Eldridge Pope Brewery site in Dorchester in December 2000. The site lies immediately to the south of the Roman town of Durnovaria and the western site boundary (Weymouth Avenue) comprises a former Roman road linking the town with Weymouth Harbour and Radipole. Excavations at the Station Master’s House (in the southwest corner of the site) have uncovered a roadside ditch running parallel to Weymouth Avenue. There is a high potential for individual or grouped Roman burials to be identified, in particular sited adjacent to Weymouth Avenue. It is also possible that evidence for extra-mural roadside settlement, civil or military occupation, or industry might be identified. Map and documentary evidence indicate that the site was occupied by open strip fields throughout the medieval period and that agricultural landuse persisted until the 19th century, when the railway and the brewery were built. Consequently, the site is considered to possess low or negligible medieval archaeological potential. On the other hand, many of the standing buildings retain much information about the late 19th and 20th century history of brewing on the site.