Durnovaria
Roman
Dorchester (Durnovaria), the capital town of the Durotriges covered
an area of between 70 and 80 acres. This now lies
buried beneath the modern town
but a section of Roman
wall remains at Top o' Town and the line of defences can be
followed. Other important surviving monuments are the amphitheatre known now as
Maumbury Rings
just outside the South Gate, and the aqueduct, which brought water into the
town from a dammed lake at Littlewood Farm near Frampton, some
15km to the north-west. Also a 4th century AD building was excavated in 1936-9 on the
north side of the Roman town.
| Maumbury Rings | Town House | Roman Wall |
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Roman Weymouth
In
Weymouth there was
evidence of Roman occupation, predominately the
Roman temple
upon Jordan Hill which overlooks
Weymouth Bay and
it is said that the ships of the Roman Empire travelled all the way to
Radipole
where the river Wey widens and forms
Radipole
Lake. A Roman villa has been found at
Preston and
recently (2004) one has been discovered on the
Isle of
Portland.
Pre-Roman
Dorchester
Prior to the Roman conquest of
Maiden Castle in
43AD, the area around Dorchester was home to the Durotriges
tribe. Surviving evidence from this period include the hillfort and many burial
mounds and cemetaries upon the South Dorset Ridgeway.
Pictures of Maumbury Rings and the Roman Town House
are shown by kind permission of
English Heritage
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