Monument record MDO18725 - A37 Western Link; Later Roman Holloway 354

Evidence for a later Roman holloway was discovered during excavations along the route of the Dorchester By-pass, Western Link. A holloway ran approximately N-S across Trenches F & G/H. this ran along the coombe side contours in Trench F, but veered downslope towards the coombe base in Trench G/H, cutting across the lynchet running along the coombe side. The holloway had a shallow U-shaped profile, on average 3.67m wide and 0.4m deep. The holloway is assigned to the later Roman period on the basis that it seems to repsect working area [467]. It is possible, however, that the relationship is reversed and the hollway dates to bothe the Earlier and later Roman periods.

Found during a programme of archaeological work conducted by Wessex Archaeology along the route of the Dorchester By-pass, Western Link, Fordington Bottom, Dorchester between 1986 and 1988. The results of the excavations have been published as a Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society Monograph; (DNHAS Monograph 11). The numbers in square brackets below refer to the context and feature numbers used in the published report (1). There was no discernible break in occupation from the Early Roman period into the 3rd and 4th centuries but a distinct change in the emphasis and scale of occupation. The settlement spread over trenches F, G/H and K and as far south as Trenches D and E. For the first time the coombe floor/ lower terrace was intensively used as a working area with associated features. At least nine new buildings, probably serving a variety of functions, were constructed along the coombe side. A holloway [354] ran approximately N-S across Trenches F & G/H. this ran along the coombe side contours in Trench F, but veered downslope towards the coombe base in Trench G/H, cutting across the lynchet running along the coombe side. The holloway had a shallow U-shaped profile, on average 3.67m wide and 0.4m deep. It cut across the Late Iron Age/Early Roman structure [394] but no other earlier features were disturbed. It was filled with brown, silty clay colluvium containing a shale spindle whorl. The holloway is assigned to the later Roman period on the basis that it seems to repsect working area [467]. It is possible, however, that the relationship is reversed and the hollway dates to both the Earlier and later Roman periods.

Record last edited

Jan 30 2007 10:24AM