Having visited these sites back in 1996, with an adult education Archaeology class that I was taking, I only have a few photos from each one, therefore I've included both on the same article. I didn't make a lot of my opportunity at the time; I recall being freezing cold because I was without a jacket, and rather unwell due to an exceptionally bad hangover! I meant to visit again and create two articles - and was unable to but it's nice to have a record of how it looked then.
However the two places work well together as, although Maumbury Rings began life as a Neolithic site, it was later altered and used by the Romans as an amphitheatre for performance and gladiatorial sports. A Neolithic Henge consisting of a large, circular earthwork with a single bank and inside ditch, with one entrance at the north east end. The ditch was made by a continuous line of deep shafts, in which were found fragments of human and deer skulls.
During Roman occupation, when the nearby Maiden Castle had been captured, the settlement at Dorchester became the Roman town of Durnovaria in AD70; the henge subsequently adapted as an amphitheatre for its citizens. An inner enclosure was added in the south west, thought to be for the performers, and the inside was lowered.
Other uses have been made of it since. In Mediaeval times the entertainment consisted of bear-baiting. During the Civil War it was used as an artillery fort to guard the southern approach to Dorchester, modified to contain a large ramp opposite the entrance. In the late 17th and early 18th centuries it was again used for the public, but for a far grislier reason...public executions. Eighty of the Monmouth Rebels were ordered to be executed here by Judge Jeffries in 1685 and other, more prosaic criminals were hanged or burned at the stake.
Now a public space, it is used once again for entertainment - but of a much gentler nature than its previous incarnations - where open-air concerts, festivals and re-enactments can be enjoyed here throughout the year.
Next stop was the Roman Town House via a look at several other interesting remains around the town. The photo above shows the remains of the Roman town wall with an infill of rubble seen from the inner, unimportant side. This is how the Roman military built their permanent forts; the outer side with pointed brickwork, the other left rough with no facing. I should imagine that the outer, smoother, surface gave more protection with less hand or foot holds, whereas the rough inner surface meant no unnecessary materials and labour.
Discovered in the 1930s, the Town House is a Grade I listed building and scheduled monument, being the only building of its kind remaining in Britain. Situated in Colliton Park, excavations revealed several mosaic floors, a bathroom and a covered verandah. I recall seeing the underfloor remains of a hypocaust, which is in the top left corner in the above photo, but sadly I don't have any photos of it. Some of the mosaics are now in the Dorchester Museum, but there was one covered by a lean-to construction to keep it safe from the elements, which could be viewed through glass. The cover can be seen in the photo below but sadly no close-ups of it or its contents. There is now a more extensive glass-sided building covering more of the excavated floor.
The walls seen are mostly concrete with irregular stone facing, which the Romans called opus incertum. There is, however, a short wall of opus spicatum; small bricks laid on their sides in an attractive herringbone pattern, which can just about be seen to the left of the column in the photo above. And below, it can be seen just above and to the left of the well.
And finally, although I don't have a photo of it, we walked along a high embankment which was part of the town defensive earthworks. I did take a photo from the top though, below, which shows how high it is.
No comments:
Post a Comment