EDO4436 - 34A High West Street, Dorchester; salvage recording 1937

In March 1937, Roman building remains, including a wall and two tessellated floors were recorded during the construction of a building at 34A High West Street (1). This was probably undertaken by Col. Drew (2). The unpublished notes and section drawings from this work are difficult to interpret with certainty. It appears that an area of about 4.9m by 1.5m was exposed along the western side of the plot, adjacent to 35 High West Street. This area projected about 1.5m north of the frontage. Further to the north the stratigraphy was disturbed. (This is a different reading of the notes from that suggested by R. Farrar (1), who says that the section continued for about 16ft (4.9m) north of the frontage). A fairly complex sequence of features and deposits was recorded by section. The earliest feature was a large feature with sloping sides cut into the natural chalk and filled with earth and chalk. This feature was about 2.75m across and lay immediately south of the frontage. The plan shape of this feature was not recorded. A Roman wall footing running roughly E-W, about 3.5m south of the frontage was cut through the fill of the earlier large feature. To the north was a tessellated floor set on a layer of make-up, which had subsided into the top of the feature. To the north, at a higher level (about 0.3m higher) was another tessellated floor set on a bed of yellow mortar set on a layer of make-up. The relationship between the two floors is unclear (3). Both tessellated floors were plain and were recorded as being of the same colour (1), but a re-examination of the surviving tesserae revealed them to be of two different sizes and of two colours (blue-grey and light grey) (4). Overlying the wall remains and the area to the south was a possible chalk and grey earth floor, which petered out to the south and was cut away to the north. A single posthole was recorded cutting through this floor (3).