EDO3849 - Southfield House, Dorchester; Trench 3

Southfield House lies across the line of the southern defences of the Roman town of Durnovaria, immediately east of the the suggested site of the south gate and the Roman road to Radipole. Following the observation of eight test pits excavated by developers in 1986, an evaluation of the site was carried out by Wessex Archaeology during June and July 1987. Six trial trenches were excavated by machine in the garden of Southfield House,mainly aligned N-S across the line of the Roman town defences. Trench 3 was aligned N-S, parallel to and between trenches 2 and 1. It measured 20m long and 0.9m wide and was excavated to a maximum depth of 1.65m at the north end and 1.73m at the south end on to natural chalk bedrock. The north end of the trench was revealed part of the counterscarp bank of the late Roman town defences and the southern end was disturbed by later gardening activity. A possible gully or grave was observed just beneath the southern edge of the counterscarp bank.