SDO9760 - Dorchester, Wollaston House. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society

In October 1947-April 1948 Mr. R.A.H. Farrar dug a trial trench through the Roman occupation levels in the grounds of Wollaston House, Durngate Street, with the assistance of boys of Dorchester Grammar School, and a grant from the DNHAS. The area selected was across the higher end nearest to Icen Way, where the contractors were to level the slope to make a school playing field. The Romano-British levels, which appear to range from the late 1st or early 2nd century to the 4th century AD, were found to be too deep to suffer damage from the bulldozer and there was no trace of later structures. At the north end of the excavation trench the foundations of a single limestone wall 2 feet thick were found close to a small open clay-lined water conduit or drain cut 3 feet into the natural chalk subsoil. Towards the southern end, close the the houses on Wollaston Road, an area of cemented gravel, 12 feet wide and 15 inches thick, thought to be a Roman road was uncovered (subsequent excavations confirmed this to be the case). Between the gravel and the water conduit, the trench cut across a large square pit cut c. 9 feet deep in to the chalk and partially revetted with earthenware tiles. The flat base of this feature lay 15 feet below the ground surface and contained a circular shaft, unexcavated. It seems likely that the square pit is a well head and may have contained winding gear initially. The pottery recovered from the fill suggests that it was unlikely to have been abandoned much later than AD 130.