Monument record MDO18403 - Poundbury Late Roman Settlement site C

A late Roman settlement comprising three Late Roman buildings, R12 to the south, R13 to the west and R14 to the north, was excavated at Site C of the 1966-1979 excavations at Poundbury. The buildings were arranged around three sides of an open courtyard. Building R13 appears to have been separated from the other two by a line of shallow post holes joining the western ends of buildings R12 and R14. The buildings were rectangular stone-footed structures, with R13 and R14 probably having cob walls and limestone roofs. Both these buildings appeared to be utilitarian buildings, with building R14 having clear evidence for its use as a smithy and Building R13 probably also being an industrial or agricultural building. Building R12 appears to have been a domestic building. The courtyard was defined to the east by a ditch with a central entrance. Within the courtyard were a number of features including a pit containing slag, iron objects and charcoal, and a number of scoops and linear features. This settlement was probably a small farming unit and appears to have been occupied in the late 3rd and 4th century AD. It was subsequently incorporated within the Late Roman cemetery at Poundbury.

Found during the excavations directed by Christopher Sparey Green, for the Dorchester Excavation Committee, between 1966 and 1979 during development of the Grove Trading Estate on the eastern slopes of Poundbury Camp, Dorchester (1). The numbers in square brackets below refer to the context and feature numbers used in the published report and archive (1)(2).

A late Roman settlement comprising three Late Roman buildings, R12 to the south, R13 to the west and R14 to the north, was excavated at Site C at the SE corner of the excavated Late Roman cemetery on the eastern slopes of Poundbury Camp. The buildings were arranged around three sides of an open courtyard, although the western building R13 appears to have been separated from the others by a line of shallow post holes joining the western ends of buildings R12 and R14. Two of the buildings appeared to have been constructed from mortared flint and limestone foundations with cob walls and limestone roof tiles. These buildings appeared to be utilitarian buildings, with building R14 having clear evidence for its use as a smithy and Building R13, probably also being an industrial or agricultural building. Building R12 appears to have been a domestic building.

The courtyard between buildings R12 and R14 had sporadic patches of flint and chalk metalling and was defined to the east by a gully [C191]. This gully had a break in the middle, which may have marked the entrance to the courtyard. Within the courtyard were a number of features. To the west was a steep-sided almost circular pit [C192], which contained some charcoal, slag, iron objects and pottery of 3rd-4th century AD date. In the southeast part were two large shallow scoops containing 3rd century AD pottery. Immediately north of these, was a linear flint setting [C269] aligned roughly NE-SW. Further to the north was a pit [C220] with a ditch running northeastwards from it. The pit was sealed by an irregular stone surface and a complete ox skull was found adjacent to the pit.

<1> Sparey Green, C, 1987, Excavations at Poundbury, Dorchester, Dorset 1966-1982. Volume 1: The Settlements (Monograph). SDO9630.

<2> Sparey Green, C, 1966-1979, Poundbury, Grove Trading Estate, Dorchester (Excavation archive). SDO10096.

Record last edited

Aug 3 2010 5:25PM