SDO14406 - The White Hart, 53 High East Street, Dorchester, Dorset. Archaeological Mitigation Report.

‘Wessex Archaeology were commissioned in 2013 by Executive Property Developments Ltd to carry out an English Heritage Level 1 standard photographic building survey at the White Hart Public House, 53 High East Street, Dorchester. The site was subsequently acquired by Burton Property Ventures Ltd. and in October 2014 Wessex were instructed to complete the required archaeological mitigation works for the site, in the form of a single evaluation trench. This Site has always been at the eastern limit of central Dorchester, from Roman times. Buildings may have been present along the street frontage since the medieval period, with the first defined buildings within the site boundary shown on a map dated 1771. The former buildings of the White Hart and ranges to the rear may have contained some elements of the c.1771 buildings and also evidence for earlier buildings possibly related to the County Jail which stood on the neighbouring plot to the west. The archaeological interventions and recording work produced a record of the various buildings that abutted either side of the western boundary of the Site as well as wall footings and elements relating to the west ranges of the Hotel. It is likely that the west boundary wall, recorded by rectified photography, contained elements of stonework that may relate to buildings associated with the neighbouring County Jail as depicted on a plan dated 1771.’