SDO9677 - 'Observations at Merchant’s Garage, High West Street, Dorchester, 1983' Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society

During the redevelopment of this property on the north side of High West Street, by McCarthy and Stone Ltd, a number of features were observed. These indicated a range of activity on the site from later prehistoric times to the post-medieval period. The earliest feature on the site was a possible Late Bronze Age boundary ditch which traversed the site diagonally WNW-ESE. The earliest activity in the Roman period was represented by several large pits and traces of one, possibly two, rectangular timber beam-slot buildings with rammed chalk floors. Two hearths probably associated with metalworking also may belong to this period which has been tentatively dated to the first century AD. These beam-slot buildings were replaced by another rectangular building with walls supported by upright posts in individual postholes or carried on drystone flint and limestone footings in the area disturbed by earlier pits. Traces of mortar and chalk floors were found in this building. Three ovens or furnaces may have been associated with it. A2nd –3rd century date is suggested for this phase of activity. In the later 3rd century AD, there was a change in alignment of the buildings. Fragments of a large house with walls on mortared flint and limestone footings were found on the eastern side of the site aligned NE-SW. Traces of a mosaic floor were found in one room and fragments of both mortar and chalk floors were found elsewhere within the building. The earlier structures on the site were probably industrial buildings but the latest building appears to have been a large town house. The expansion of domestic buildings into this area of the Roman town can also be seen at Colliton Park, just to the north of the site. The early Roman industrial activity appears to shift to the north in the 3rd century and has been investigated on the adjacent Library Site in Colliton Park. In the medieval and post-medieval period, evidence for activity is restricted to a small number of pits and two possible property boundaries.