Monument record MDO26882 - Inhumation Burials, Melbury Hill, Melbury Abbas

Two human skeletons were found by labourers when an old coppice near Melbury Abbas Hill was being uprooted in the 1840s. A bronze coin of Antoninus Pius was found under one of the skeletons. The record for this monument has been enhanced with support from Wessex Water.

Gomme, G L (ed ), 1844, Romano-British remains, parts 1 and 2 (Article in serial). SWX9212.

Gomme, G L, 1886, Archaeology: A classified collection of the chief contents of “The Gentleman’s Magazine” from 1731-1868. Volume 2. (Monograph). SDO9822.

‘MELBURY ABBAS HILL [1846, Part II., p.633.] A short time since, while some labourers were employed in rooting up an old coppice, near Melbury Abbas Hill, Dorset, they discovered two human skeletons about 2 feet below the surface. On searching they found, under one of the skeletons, a brass coin of Antoninus Pius, in good preservation ; it is in the possession of Mr. Roberts, chemist, etc., Shaftesbury.’

Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1972, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume IV (North), 48 (Monograph). SDO99.

'(7) Inhumation Burials, Romano-British, were found in 1846 near Melbury Hill (Gentleman's Mag., new ser., XXVI (1846), 633); associated with one burial was a coin of Antoninus Pius.'

Record last edited

Oct 14 2025 11:50AM