White Hart Hotel, Dorchester on Thames, Oxfordshire

Oxford Archaeology (OA) were commissioned by Tony Herring Associates to undertake
an archaeological evaluation of the site of a proposed housing development at the
White Hart Hotel, Dorchester on Thames, Oxfordshire, centred on NGR SU 578 943.
The work was undertaken as a condition of Planning Permission (planning ref:
P16/S1833/FUL). The works involved the excavation of a single evaluation trench, 17
metres long within the White Hart Hotel car park.
The evaluation identified two features possibly representing walls which have been
robbed of stone. One of these corresponds closely with the conjectured alignment of
the northern defences of the Roman small town.
A small number of postholes, a pit and a ditch were revealed, broadly dating to the
post-medieval period, although two produced Roman pottery which was almost
certainly residual. These appear to represent light-weight structures, possibly
associated with horticultural activity within the back garden of properties fronting the
High Street to the west.
A sequence of layers were identified containing a significant percentage of mortar.
These probably relate to construction, modification or demolition of a building within the
vicinity in the 18th and 19th centuries.
A 19th-century cellar was also identified. This probably served as a coal store.
A large modern feature which was not fully defined, but probably relates to reported
recent flood alleviation drainage works, was revealed within the north trench.