SDO9611 - An Archaeological Evaluation at the Old Foundry Site, Fordington High Street, Dorchester, Dorset

The archaeological evaluation of a proposed redevelopment scheme of the Old Foundry site at Fordington High Street, Dorchester, comprised the machine excavation of three trenches outside the existing building and four hand-excavated trial pits within it. The site lies close to a previously excavated Roman building and Roman burials discovered under Fordington High Street south of the site. A recent geotechnical survey indicates that buried archaeological deposits may have existed on the site but it was unclear whether they had been disturbed by the construction and use of the foundry. The archaeological evaluation identified a number of deposits containing artefacts of medieval and Roman date, as well as a ditch and three possible stone surfaces. No definitive dating evidence was recovered from the ditch but one stone surface sealed a deposit containing 16th-19th century pottery and another sealed a deposit containing Romano-British and medieval sherds. A possible surface in Trial pit 7 sealed a deposit containing 2 small sherds of Romano-British pottery.