Monument record MDO18829 - Durngate Street/Church Street, Dorchester; Roman building

Excavations in Durngate Street opposite Church Street located two Romano-British houses. The first was a house first observed in 1883 North of Wollaston House, and to the east of Church Street.

SY69369058. Roman building debris found in 1965. <1>

SY69359066. Several walls, floors etc uncovered by Electricity and gas Board engineers in 1964-5. <2>

SY69389066. Roman building remains found in 1883. <3>

Watching briefs carried out on road improvements in the Durngate area in 1980 and 1981 revealed further Roman remains. <4>

Trenching by the Electricity and Gas Boards in 1964-5 in part of Durngate Street revealed walls, floors etc generally disturbed by later occupation In the face of Trench 1 was a substantial free-standing wall of 5 courses of roof tiles in pink concrete resting on clay, and 18" wide. The rammed chalk floor of a building extended into Trench 2. Much building debris and a coin of Magnentius, (Amiens mint, 351-3) was found in Trench 3. Trenches 4 and 5 revealed remains identifiable to those found in 1883, near the former entrance to Wollaston House. These consisted of wall foundations, floors, some having charcoal and soot deposits, and various layers of sand, clay, etc. A number of sherds were found including some probably of Neronian date and a Rhenish ware vessel. An intermittent layer of gravel just below the road surface probably to a N-S road forming part of the Roman road system.

Road improvements in the above area in 1980 revealed an area of cobbled surface 4.5m x 3.5m across. A limestone wall, 3 courses high and running N-S, was cut at the southern end by a Mediaeval well. The Roman road, cut by an access hole, consisted of compacted layers of smal flint pebbles, with a larger pebble foundation layer to a depth of 0.3m, set on natural clay. (5)

<1> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1967, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1966, 112 (Serial). SDO66.

<2> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1968, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1967, 127-132 (Serial). SDO67.

<3> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 3, 566, No.200 (Monograph). SDO150.

<4> Batchelor, D, 1981, Notes on watching briefs carried out on road improvements in the Durngate area of Dorchester. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society (Article in serial). SDO9877.

<4> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1982, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1981, 126 (Serial). SDO81.

<5> Woodward, P J , Davies, S M , and Graham, A H, 1993, Excavations at the Old Methodist Chapel and Greyhound Yard, Dorchester, 1981-1984, observation 10 (Monograph). SDO9411.

<6> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1147699 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

<7> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1148008 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Aug 22 2024 7:32PM