Monument record MDO18461 - Poundbury Post-Roman Structure PR1a

Post-Roman Structure PR1a was discovered in the southeast part of Late Roman enclosure 3, during the 1966-79 excavations at Poundbury, Dorchester. This structure was probably rectangular and was defined by probable beam slots on its western and northern sides. It was constructed on an irregular terrace and two postholes and a pit may have also been associated with this structure. No floor levels survived. No evidence survived to indicate its function, but it is assumed to be a domestic house. Structure PR1a was assigned, along with buildings PR2a, PR3a, PR5, PR15, and possibly PR14; pit groups ii-v; grain driers 1,2,3 & 5 to phase 1 of the post-Roman settlement. This represented the earliest post-Roman settlement on the site of the late Roman cemetery.

Found during the excavations directed by Christopher Sparey Green, for the Dorchester Excavation Committee, between 1966 and 19790 during development of the Grove Trading Estate on the eastern slopes of Poundbury Camp, Dorchester (1). The numbers in square brackets below refer to the context and feature numbers used in the published excavation report and archive (1)(2). Further refinement of the post-Roman settlement sequence has been undertaken by Christopher Sparey Green since the initial publication of the site and this has been taken into account in the following description (3) (4). Structure PR1a was found in the southeast part of late Roman enclosure 3, in the southern part of Site B. It appeared to be a rectangular structure defined by beam slots. It was constructed on an irregular terrace that measured about 4.6m by 7.6m across and was defined by two slots: [B38] on the western side and [B77] on the northern side. The limits of this structure to the south and east were not found, as there was significant modern disturbance to the east and the southern end may have been beyond the area of excavation. Two postholes [B68] [B102] within the structure may have been associated with it, as may have been a small pit [E93]. There were no surviving floor layers within the structure, but there was a small patch of stone paving [B69] surviving in the top of pit [E93], which may have been part of this structure. Structure PR1a was subsequently rebuilt as the post-built Structure PR1b. It lay about 1.5m to the west of the possibly contemporary post-Roman grain drier 1. No evidence survived to indicate its function, but it is assumed to be a domestic house. Structure PR1a was assigned, along with buildings PR2a, PR3a, PR5, PR15, and possibly PR14; pit groups ii-v; grain driers 1,2,3 & 5 to phase 1 of the post-Roman settlement. This represented the earliest post-Roman settlement on the site of the late Roman cemetery (3).

Record last edited

Aug 3 2010 5:30PM