Monument record MDO18382 - Old Market Car Park, Dorchester; Roman town defences

Part of the rampart of Roman town defences were recorded during evaluation excavation by the Central Excavation Unit in 1985, in advance of the realignment of Acland Road, Dorchester. Further elements were recorded during a subsequent watching brief undertaken by Wessex Archaeology in 1985. The chalk bank lay largely along the line of the former Longmans Road in the south end of the car park. It appears to have been seriously truncated. The slope to the south of the car park, at the northern edge of South Walks appears to be largely the result of 18th century landscaping to form the Walks.

Some elements of the Roman town defences were recorded during evaluation excavation by the Central Excavation Unit in 1985, in advance of the realignment of Acland Road, Dorchester. Further elements were recorded during a subsequent watching brief undertaken by Wessex Archaeology in 1985 (1). Evaluation trench A excavated on the northern edge of South Walks revealed some possible layers of wash from the rampart sitting in the top of the inner ditch. The slope of the ground along the north of South Walks may be the result of the 18th century landscaping to form South Walks as this slope was made up mainly of 18th century build up. It also implies that the rampart lay further to the north, under what was formerly Longman's Road in the southern edge of the car park and it is likely that much of the bank was disturbed by the construction of the road. The northern tail of the rampart was possibly picked up in Evaluation Trench B, where a layer of brown clay with tip lines of chalk flecks was observed sloping to the north. Part of the southern side of the rampart was also observed in a service trench which crossed from South Walks into the area of the Old Market Car Park. This revealed the truncated remains of the chalk bank (in Observations 1 & 2).

Record last edited

Jul 31 2023 3:29PM