SDO9515 - Colliton Street, Dorchester, Dorset: Archaeological Observation and Recording

In September 1997 Wessex Archaeology was asked by Dorset County Council to undertake a programme of rapid archaeological recording and observation on work being undertaken in Colliton Street, Dorchester (centred on SY 6917 9081). The recording was undertaken following the advice of Mr Steven Wallis, Assistant Archaeologist, Dorset County Council that important buried remains may occur within the site, which lies within the Roman and Medieval town of Dorchester. The primary objective of the observation and recording was to determine, as far as was reasonably possible, the location, extent, date, character, condition, quality and significance of any surviving archaeological remains within the time available. Four machine-dug trenches were examined and recorded. These were dug as part of improvements to two car parks located to the south of Colliton Street, involving the construction of additional boundary walls or the improvement of existing walls. The scope for examination of the trenches was restricted by the short time available for archaeological work prior to the laying of concrete foundations. The four trenches showed varying degrees of archaeological significance. Trench 2 was badly disturbed by deposits associated with the construction of post-Medieval brick wall and with the make up for Colliton Street. Trench 4 showed no sign of any deposits other than modern material. Trench 1 was excavated adjacent to an existing wall and suffered associated truncation, and it was also located close to Colliton Street. Trench 1, however, also showed some evidence for the survival of stratified deposits, although of an unknown date and origin. Trench 3 was located in an area of little previous disturbance, and this trench contained demonstrable evidence for Roman stratification. A sequence of up to 0.5m in depth of Roman deposits was recorded. There was little evidence for Medieval or post-Medieval deposits, although these may already have been subject to truncation. The most significant feature recorded in Trench 3 was a late Roman boundary ditch. The ditch probably dates to the 4th century AD and appears to run on a different alignment to the street grid of the Roman town of Durnovaria. The ditch cut through earlier Roman deposits, and was stratigraphically the latest Roman feature from Trench 3. Without further information on its full extent and form, it is impossible to speculate further on its function.