EDO4493 - Cooper's Cookers, Grove Trading Estate, Dorchester; Trench 3

An archaeological watching brief was undertaken at Cooper’s Cookers (a.k.a. Cooper's Wholesale), Grove Trading Estate, Dorchester during groundworks associated with the construction of proposed industrial units 1-3 in the southeast part of the site. Three trenches were observed. Trench 3 was the footings trench for a new industrial unit. It was situated immediately to the north of Trench 2 and measured 28m long, 0.8m wide and between 2.2-2.7m deep. This area had been landscaped and the ground levels raised by the deposition of a thick layer of modern debris. The eastern ends of two rectangular grave cuts, probably oriented east-west, were exposed. Part of the skull of the inhumation in one grave was visible, suggesting an extended supine inhumation with the head to the east. No human remains were exposed in the other grave. Both graves are assumed to be Roman in date. In addition to the graves, two small ditches aligned roughly N-S were exposed. These are probably the continuation of the Roman ditches exposed in Trench 1.