SDO9889 - 'Excavations for the Dorchester Excavation Committee, Interim Report, 1971: 34 Trinity Street' Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society

An area of over 250 sq. m. in the garden at the rear of Applegates' premises was stripped to natural. This revealed a road and substantial domestic occupation of Roman date. The initial occupation of the 1st century AD was represented by post-holes and small slots cut into natural, and by a line of rubble possibly representing wall foundations. Late in the 1st century a make-up layer was spread over the whole site and a sill-beam buildin and a N-S road were constructed. The sill-beam building lay approximately 4m to the west of the road and was aligned parallel to it. It contained at least nine rooms of which two had opus signinum floors and quarter round mouldings in situ. Much painted wall plaster was recovered from the destruction layer above it. The building was demolished towards the end of the 2nd century and replaced by a substantial building with foundations 0.9m deep and 0.7m wide. The eastern side of the buidling fronted on the road and an internal courtyard was bounded on its northern and western sides by a corridor. Rooms lead off this corridor to the north and west, although not fully exposed in the excavation area. The courtyard had a packed chalk surface and possibly two wells. Large quantities of painted wall plaster and tesserae were contained in the destruction layers which dated from the late 3rd-early 4th centuries. These layers also covered the road. After a short interval a thin layer of limestone rubble was spread over the site of the building. There was no evidence for further activity on this site until the 16th century when more robbing took place. The site was then cultivated and a few pits were dug including 19th century cess pits for houses on Trinity Street.