EDO4527 - Sewer Main, Acland Road, Dorchester; observations and recording 1990

Wessex Archaeology conducted a watching brief during the excavation of a sewer pipe in October 1990. The sewer main was 0.75m wide and ran from South Walks, along the western edge of Acland Road and as far north as the site of Waitrose, Dorchester. A 10m x 5m sump was also excavated at the junction of Acland Road and South Walks, to a depth of 6m. The sewer trench was then graded from this depth to a minimum of 1.2m approximately 100m from the southern end. It was expected that the sump would cut through the southern rampart of the Roman Town. However, the section only revealed 6m of naturally bedded chalk with a 'v' profiled ditch aligned E-W cut into it. No datable finds were recovered from the ditch fill and it was sealed by 0.3m of dark brown loam which was itself cut by a number of modern disturbances. Within the sewer trench, an E-W aligned 'V' profile ditch (4m across and 2m deep) was located 20m north of the sump with 2 sherds of Roman pottery in its fill. This ditch may have formed part of the Roman town defences. Further north, a mortared limestone ashlar wall was uncovered which had survived to a height of 2m and was 0.5m wide, and was probably the western boundary wall of the old Malthouse demolished in the late 1960s. Further walls relating to the malthouse yard were revealed 30m north of this point. Further north the trench became too shallow to reveal any surviving archaeological features.