EDO4583 - Applegates, 34 Trinity Street, Dorchester; excavation 1971

An area of over 250 sq. m. in the garden at the rear of Applegates' premises, 34 Trinity Street, Dorchester was excavated by the Dorchester Excavation Committee in 1971. This revealed a road and substantial domestic occupation of Roman date. The initial occupation of the 1st century AD was represented by post-holes and small slots cut into natural, and by a line of rubble possibly representing wall foundations. A N-S road also probably belongs to the initial phase of Roman activity and continued in use into the Late Roman period. Late in the 1st century a make-up layer was spread over the whole site and a sill-beam building was constructed on the street frontage. It consisted of at least nine rooms, two of which had opus signinum floors. Much painted wall plaster was recovered from the destruction layer above it. The building was demolished towards the end of the 2nd century and replaced by a substantial stone-footed building. The house comprised a main range aligned parallel to the street and a northern wing (with probably a corresponding south wing beyond the excavated area). The building was set around a chalk-surfaced courtyard, which fronted the street, and a centrally placed well. Large quantities of painted wall plaster and tesserae were found in the destruction layers which dated from the late 3rd-early 4th centuries. These layers also covered the road. After a short interval a thin layer of limestone rubble was spread over the site of the building. There was no evidence for further activity on this site until the 16th century when more robbing took place. The site was then cultivated and a few pits were dug including 19th century cess pits for houses on Trinity Street (1).