EDO4309 - Fire Headquarters Site, County Hall, Dorchester; excavation 1984

Wessex Archaeology conducted an archaeological excavation in advance of the construction of a new Fire Headquarters in the NW quadrant of County Hall during 1984. An area of 35m x 20m was stripped by mechanical excavator revealing many and interconnecting quarry pits, with a high proportion of ash and charcoal in the upper fills, north of a smithy identified in 1938. To the east of the quarry pits, a robber trench indicated the position of a three sided building containing a hearth, stone floor, and iron waste. A second bay was later added, both open open-sided to the west. This building seems to be a partly open shelter for the protection of iron smiths from the elements during their work. The quarries may be associated with the construction of the town defences and the hearths seem to have been last used in the 4th century.