SDO9835 - Dorchester, River View, Greenings Court, 1997. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society

Observations were made by C. Sparey-Green in September and October 1997, during renovation and underpinning of the existing house at River View, Greenings Court, Dorchester. Three important features were observed during these works in two areas, firstly, under the south-eastern corner of the building and, secondly, within the cellar on the north-western side towards the northern corner. At the southern corner of the house two underpinning trenches A & B were observed. A substantial chalk-and-flint foundation apparently running north-east to south-west, over 1 m wide, and overlain by mortar and limestone rubble was observed. It may be part of the northern town wall set on the scarp above the river. On the northwestern side of the house, beneath the northern corner of the building, three underpinning pits C, D & E, within the cellar were observed. Here a dense layer of rubble sealed fourth-century material which in turn sealed a large post-hole and a cut feature containing material of mid-first-century date, perhaps part of an early defensive line.