The Aqueduct terrace passing Poundbury hill fort


The Aqueduct according to Major Coates (1902)

The aqueduct, easily visible on the hillside at the Dorchester end, has been known to exist since the start of the nineteenth century. It was Major Coates who in 1900 first realised that the well-defined terrace maintained a steady but slightly falling gradient towards Dorchester, and was therefore a water channel. He correctly assigned it to the Roman period.

The excavation in 1977 of the Roman bath-house at Dorchester confirmed the aqueduct’s purpose, and the deep channel passing behind County Hall towards the river Frome was perceived to be for the discharge of the waste water.

The waste channel at County Hall, excavated 1937


Excavation of the Roman baths in Dorchester in 1977