<< Our Photo Pages >> Dorchester, Tudor Arcade - Timber Circle in England in Dorset
Submitted by TimPrevett on Wednesday, 14 April 2004 Page Views: 20316
Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Dorchester, Tudor ArcadeCountry: England County: Dorset Type: Timber Circle
Nearest Town: Dorchester
Map Ref: SY693906 Landranger Map Number: 194
Latitude: 50.714213N Longitude: 2.436198W
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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maddy TimPrevett have visited here
When in Dorchester, I just had to check out the report in Bill Putnam's book "Dorset: The Prehistoric Age" that there were red markings in Waitrose Car Park, Dorchester, denoting sites of larger timber posts, which formed part of a timber circle. Quote "parts of a large timber circle have been discovered surrounding a projected area of around 380 metres in diameter.
Apparently some 600 mature oak tree trunks would have been required for its construction. A radiocarbon date for it is about 2100BC."
The grid reference would be SY693906, or if using multimap / streetmap, address is Tudor Arcade, South Street, Dorchester, Dorset, DT1 1BN.
Well, when I found a pedestrian entrance (also a lift down from the above shopping arcade - but I did not know that until trying to find a way out that linked in with my route), I walked into the car park expecting to have to search hard, but soon saw a long wavy arc of 20 (I counted, including some under parked cars!) red circles. I had to wait a bit as the place was busy enough with pedestrians and cars before I could get some usable photos. I must have looked suspicious, loitering in an underground car park, with a camera, checking the coast is clear, and looking under cars!
This site, when in its prime, would have been huge, on a prominent hillside in the neighbourhood, along with Maumbury Ring, Mount Pleasant Henge, Maiden Castle, Poundbury Hill Fort all featuring in the area, over time.
Again, I can not believe I knew nothing of this once important location when I lived and worked in the area. There are some WCs as part of the same complex, under Waitrose, and the times I visited those, just feet away. Given there are no signs in the car park explaining them, nor in the tourist information, and neither in the County Museum, just 5 minutes walk away, I expect many people in the area will continue to be ignorant of the significance of the large red circles on the car park floor!
In the County Museum, upstairs overlooking the Roman Mosaics, is a circular display showing the width of the trunks found for the timber circle, with a relief map and diagram showing the location of the local prehistoric monuments. This is actually away from the main section on prehistory, so it's not obvious otherwise.
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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
223m WNW 296° Dorset County Museum* Museum (SY691907)
487m NW 316° Dorchester Roman Town House* Ancient Village or Settlement (SY68969095)
739m SSW 203° Maumbury Rings* Henge (SY69018992)
1.2km WNW 295° Poundbury* Hillfort (SY68199113)
1.3km ESE 122° Flagstones Enclosure* Causewayed Enclosure (SY704899)
1.7km SSE 166° Conygar Hill Barrows* Barrow Cemetery (SY697889)
1.8km ESE 109° Mount Pleasant (Dorset)* Henge (SY710900)
2.3km SSW 199° Herringston Long Barrow* Long Barrow (SY68548844)
2.3km SSW 200° Herringston Bowl Barrow* Round Barrow(s) (SY68478842)
2.7km WNW 298° Bradford Peverell 2* Long Barrow (SY669919)
3.0km WSW 237° Maiden Castle Linear Earthwork Misc. Earthwork (SY66798902)
3.0km WSW 246° Maiden Castle Long Barrow 2 Long Barrow (SY66578938)
3.0km WSW 242° Lanceborough Enclosure Misc. Earthwork (SY66658920)
3.0km WSW 242° Maiden Castle Barrow Cemetery* Barrow Cemetery (SY666892)
3.2km SW 228° Maiden Castle Bank Barrow* Long Barrow (SY66928850)
3.2km SW 228° Maiden Castle Causewayed Enclosure* Causewayed Enclosure (SY66938848)
3.2km SW 228° Maiden Castle (Dorset)* Hillfort (SY66908846)
3.3km WSW 237° Maiden Castle Long Barrow 1 Long Barrow (SY66518879)
3.3km SE 134° Whitcombe* Standing Stone (Menhir) (SY717883)
4.0km E 79° Heedless William's Stone* Standing Stone (Menhir) (SY732913)
4.0km WSW 246° Clandon Barrow* Round Barrow(s) (SY65638900)
4.3km S 188° Came Down* Barrow Cemetery (SY687863)
4.4km W 266° Bridport Road Barrow Cemetery Barrow Cemetery (SY649903)
4.4km ENE 71° Rainbarrows* Round Barrow(s) (SY735920)
4.4km N 7° Culliford Tree* Barrow Cemetery (SY699950)
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