EDO4592 - Somerleigh Court, Dorchester; excavation 1966 to 1967

During 1966-7 the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society undertook a small trial excavation in the grounds of Somerleigh Court in an area of former hospital staff allotments due for development. Three small test pits were dug in the autumn of 1966 and Roman levels were exposed in only one of them. Subsequently in March 1967, excavation continued in the area of the test pit which had revealed Roman material. In Trench A, which incorporated the original test pit, the remains of a chalk cut feature were exposed and interpreted as a drainage ditch, dating to the later 2nd century. In a T-shaped trench to the north, the remains of a narrow wall of undressed flints was uncovered and traced in further trenches for a total of 58ft. This was thought to be a 17th century retaining wall. Chalk bedrock was not reached in the other trenches, but augering indicated it lay at some depth (1). This area was subsequently investigated again in 1969 as Dorset Hospital Site B, which revealed that the chalk cut feature was probably part of a large chalk quarry pit.