EDO3717 - St George's Road (Dorchester By-pass Site 2)

Wessex Archaeology carried out an excavation in 1987 (Site Code W184) in advance of the Dorchester By-pass construction, following a geophysical survey in 1982 and evaluation excavation in 1987. An area of 0.2ha was stripped by machine and excavated. The excavations revealed at least three phases of activity. The earliest activity is represented by two arcs of postholes of probable prehistoric (possibly Late Iron Age) date. The next major phase is dated to the Roman period and comprised a curvilinear enclosure, subsequently replaced by a rectangular ditched enclosure system, together with two post-built structures and one subrectangular chalk-cut structure. The next phase is dated to the medieval period and comprised several curvilinear field boundaries replaced by an east-west linear field system, then a northeast-southwest linear field system. A rectangular building with a stone slab floor was constructed over the ditches of the latest field system at some time after the 14th century. Post-medieval activity was represented only by the development of the topsoil which covered all the above features.