Monument record MDO7338 - Romano-British shale working site at Greenspecks Clay Pit, Church Knowle

A shale working site discovered during clay extraction around 1912. Some of the shale objects recovered then are in the Dorset County Museum, and include trimmed discs and pieces of armlets, as well as waste from shale working. Pottery from the area and thought to be from this site suggest a 3rd-century date.

SY 92658270. Greenspecks Clay-Pit. A working floor and occupation debris found about 1912 in clay-workings some 350yds. W. of East Creech Farm indicate existence of a workshop of the Kimmeridge shale industry, now perhaps wholly destroyed, which may have originated in Iron Age 'C'. The material (in D.C.M. and the Furzebrook office of Pike Bros., Fayle and Co.) consists of shale waste, mainly trimmed discs and broken or unfinished armlets, some probably cut by iron tools, almost entirely of the hand-cutting industry elsewhere being replaced by the lathe in Iron Age 'C' and Roman times. An unusual conical object (D.C.M. 1912.37.2) and a circular plaque (1919.2.11) found with 'Roman pottery' are lathe products. Some indurated pieces of the working-floor, containing shale chips, flint flakes and sherds are preserved at Furzebrook, with 1st century native ware and sherds probably of the third century presumably from this site. <1> <2> <4> <5>

Sited from J B Calkins private 6" at SY 92698264. A small black vessel also in the office of Pike Bros. originates from Nigeria and has no local connection. Objects referred to seen in the office of Pike Bros. East Creech. Nothing was found in the locality of the original find spot. <3>

<1> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1949, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1948, 43-44 (Serial). SDO48.

<2> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1952, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1951, 89-91 (Serial). SDO51.

<3> Rigg, J, Field Investigators Comments JR, F1 JR 22-JUL-52 (Unpublished document). SWX1255.

<3.1> Calkin, J B, Annotated Record Map Corr 6 (Map). SWX8214.

<3.2> Calkin, J B, Oral: J B Calkin (Hon Corr) (Verbal communication). SWX8259.

<4> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1955, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1953, 65, 69 (Serial). SDO53.

<5> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 3, 596 (Monograph). SDO150.

‘(58) Greenspecks Clay-pit (SY 98 SW). A Working-floor and Occupation Debris found c. 1912 in clay-workings (92658270) some 350 yds. W. of East Creech Farm indicate existence of a workshop of the Kimmeridge shale industry, now perhaps wholly destroyed, which may have originated in Iron Age 'C'.
The material (in D.C.M. and the Furzebrook office of Pike Bros., Fayle and Co.) consists of shale waste, mainly trimmed discs and broken or unfinished armlets, some probably cut by iron tools, almost entirely of the hand-cutting industry elsewhere being replaced by the lathe in Iron Age 'C' and Roman times. An unusual conical object (D.C.M. 1912.37.2) and a circular plaque (1919.2.11) found with 'Roman pottery' are lathe products. Some indurated pieces of the working-floor, containing shale chips, flint flakes and sherds, are preserved at Furzebrook, with 1st-century native ware and sherds probably of the 3rd century presumably from this site. (Dorset Procs. LXX (1948), 43–4; LXXIII (1951), 89–91; LXXV (1953), 65, 69; D.C.M. Accessions Book, 17 Dec. 1913.)’

<6> Papworth, M D J, Trust for Wessex Archaeology, 1983, Isle of Purbeck Survey, IOP 244 (Index). SDO147.

'Site lies on land heavily quarried lying N of a road and covered in deciduous woodland. The quarries are disused but it appears that the site has been destroyed by the workings.'

<7> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, Externally held archive: RCH01/093 RCHME Inventory: Dorset II (South-East) (Unpublished document). SDO17434.

<8> National Record of the Historic Environment, 456885 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Aug 22 2024 7:50PM