Monument record MDO432 - Roman road from Dorchester to Ilchester

The road from the north west, connecting Dorchester with Ilchester is clear beyond Stratton, some 3 miles from the likely west gate of Dorchester. No positive traces are recognisable between these points, but there seems no good reason to reject the route proposed by Hutchins anfd followed by the present road from Bradford Peverell, which enters the borough a few yards outside the south west corner of Poundbury Camp. A road hereabouts is strongly supported by the presence of the Roman cemetery on the east slopes of Poundbury. RCHM,II PT3,541 Summary from record MDO2563: The predicted probable course of the Dorchester to Ilchester Roman Road.

Roman road-Dorchester to Ilchester (23 1/4 miles) "From Dorchester there was a direct route north-westward to Ilchester... This route has remained in use almost throughout and, although in general it is very straight... in the central portion between Frampton and Holywell, its line was very cleverly modified to keep along the high ridge there and so avoid much hill-climbing" The road issued from the west gate of Roman Dorchester and, apart from bends on steep hills, runs very straight to Bradford Peverell, passing just to the south of Poundbury Iron Age Camp. From Bradford Peverell the road was formerly traceable across the water meadows to Stratton, where it would have joined the branch from Stinsford (470) and Charminster. This is continuously traceable as a farm road or lane for most of its length. Both these routes to Stratton are aligned roads and certainly qualify as of Roman origin. From Stratton through Frampton to Holywell the modern road is mainly on the Roman line, but an agger is visible in some cases where this is not so. From Holywell for the next three miles past Melbury Park the road is very twisting. At Princes Place, near Melbury Osmund a true alignment recommences and after a slight turn in another mile, near Closworth, it ran straight on to Yeovil where it passes a mile west of the town centre continuing upon its alignment on a course previously ascertained, but now obliterated by development to Preston Plucknett. Larkhill Road then carries it on towards Ilchester first as a minor lane with a change of direction on the high ground near Vagg and then by the main road from Yeovil to Ilchester. Roman road-Dorchester to Ilchester. Section from Red House Inn, Barwick (ST55451390) to junction of Larkhill Lane and Thorne Lane (ST53641760) At Keyford the road runs through a rock cutting. A sunken footpath then marks it to Aldon Lodge at the approach to Yeovil, but the Roman road passes a mile to the west of the town centre, continuing upon its alignment on a course, previously ascertained but now obliterated by development, to Preston Plucknett, where it was seen in a section in a quarry. Larkhill Road (Lane on OS 6") then carries it on towards Ilchester, first as a minor lane with a change of direction on the high ground near Vagg and then by the main road from Yeovil to Ilchester See AO/60/330/7 for probable course of road. (Also see linear file for field reports and miscellaneous information. (1,2) A field evaluation in 1997 found no positive evidence of the Roman road. The excavators noted that a sequence of linear ditches in the north of the site (F108 and F1101) may be in the approximate position of road side ditches. They concluded that it was possible that the course of the Roman Road lay a little further north of the postulated line, perhaps under the existing hedge bank, or even that it has been superseded by Old Dorchester Road. <6>

Record last edited

Mar 27 2024 12:27PM