Monument record MDO18129 - Greyhound Yard, Roman building 2700

The remains of a substantial rectangular aisled stone building constructed in the late 3rd-4th century AD on the eastern street frontage of the Greyhound Yard insula found during the 1984 excavations at Greyhound Yard. It had two rows of stone pier bases along the interior and an exterior path along the north side. A single roomed extension (Building 2140) was added to the west end during the 4th century AD.

Found during the excavations carried out by Wessex Archaeology in 1984 prior to the redevelopment of the area of the former Greyhound Yard. (1) The results of the excavation were published together with the results of the adjacent Old Methodist Chapel excavations. (2) The numbers in square brackets below are context and feature numbers used in the published report (2). Building 2700 was located on the eastern frontage of the Greyhound Yard insula and partially overlay the eastern end of Building 2460. Only the western end of Building 2700 lay within the excavated area. It was probably a large substantial building of fairly high status. The footings were very substantial and a great deal of trouble had been taken to remove the fills of earlier features on the line of the walls and construct substantial deep consolidations and footings of masonry and chalk rubble. The surviving parts of the walls were 0.9m wide and of mortared limestone construction. Within the building were two square footings of flint rubble, possibly part of two rows of stone piers. This building has been reconstructed as a single rectangular structure on the road frontage to the east with internal dimensions of about 20m E-W and 10m N-S. There was an entrance in the west end of the north wall and evidence for the insertion of another doorway opposite in the south wall at a later date. The large size of the wall and footings suggests this building was built wholly of stone. Along the north external side was a cobbled path. Internal surfaces had been almost completely destroyed, except for a strip along the west. There was no evidence for a single substantial floor or surface but there were a number of deposits of chalk and soil which formed a continuous surface. Two infant burials [2682, 1938] were found inside the building close to the west wall. Dating evidence for the period of construction of this building is provided by pottery dating to the late 3rd-4th century within contexts associated with the building of this structure. At some point, an extension (Building 2140) was added to the west end of Building 2700. This was a rectangular room about 7m by 9m. This extension was constructed on substantial footings similar to those of Building 2700 with a 0.6m wide mortared limestone wall on top. No contemporary surfaces were identified. An infant burial [4655] lay within the north side of this room and may have been associated with it. There is no secure dating evidence for the construction of this building other than stratigraphic evidence which shows it is later than Building 2700. Building 2140 was the only building along the eastern frontage that extended across the boundary between the frontage and the central area of the insula. It encroached on the SE corner of enclosure 5541 and the NE corner of enclosure 2500, involving demolition of parts of the boundary walls.

Record last edited

May 2 2012 3:57AM