Monument record MDO18738 - Wadham House Roman Building B

Evidence for a Roman building was discovered during excavations behind Wadham House, High West Street, Dorchester in 1968. Evidence for a possible Roman building in the centre of the site was provided by the remains of a wall footing (wall B) standing to a height of 0.2m above the chalk. It consisted of three courses of flints, with the lowest course set in orange ‘clayey turf’ and the upper courses bonded in grey-orange clay. The wall was truncated by a post-medieval pit on the NW edge and on the east by later disturbance. There is no conclusive dating evidence for these footings, but they may be Roman on the basis that they are set in the original ‘Orange turf’.

Found during the excavation of a 27.5m x 3m trench during December and January 1968-9, dug in advance of the redevelopment of the back garden of Wadham House, 50 High West Street, Dorchester. The Excavation has been published as part of the ‘Dorchester Excavations Volume 1’ (Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society Monograph 2) (1). Evidence for a possible Roman building in the centre of the site was provided by the remains of a wall footing (wall B) standing to a height of 0.2m above the chalk. It consisted of three courses of flints, with the lowest course set in orange ‘clayey turf’ and the upper courses bonded in grey-orange clay. The wall was truncated by a post-medieval pit on the NW edge and on the east by later disturbance. There is no conclusive dating evidence for these footings, but they may be Roman on the basis that they are set in the original ‘Orange turf’.

Record last edited

May 23 2023 5:14PM