SDO9676 - 'Excavations at County Hall, Dorchester, 1984. An Interim Note' Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society

The construction of extensions to County Hall provided an opportunity to further examine two areas of the Colliton Park Roman complex first investigated between 1937-9. Two areas were investigated; The Magistrate's Court site, in which all archaeological features had been removed in 1939 during construction work; and the Fire Headquarters site immediately south of the Roman Town House. In the latter site an area of 35m x 20m was stripped by mechanical excavator revealing many and interconnecting quarry pits, with a high proportion of ash and charcoal in the upper fills, north of a smithy identified in 1938. East of the pits a robber trench indicated the position of a three sided building containing hearth, stone floor and iron waste. A second bay was later added, both open open-sided to the west. The quarries may be associated with the construction of the town defences and the hearths seem to have been last used in the 4th century.