EDO4603 - Somerleigh Court, Dorchester; excavation 1963

The remains of a tesselated floor was exposed in drainage works east of the front porch of Somerleigh Court, Dorchester in 1963. This area was extended to the east and excavated by P H Whatmoor. The poor quality floor was exposed over an area of 5.5ft by 3ft. It was laid on a foundation of sandy mortar and the tesserae were of light grey limestone and red clay tile probably forming either a plain floor or border for a mosaic. A mortared flint wall foundation ran along the south side roughly conforming to the alignment of buildings excavated on the south side of the house in 1963 (1). Some New Forest ware pottery was found above the area of the floor.