Find Spot record MDO8660 - Palaeolithic flint hand axes, Latch Farm, Christchurch

48 Lower Palaeolithic handaxes (Acheulian), were found in gravel workings at Latch Farm. Mesolithic microcores and a Neolithic axe fragment were also found. Bronze Age urn or food vessel, scraper and inhumation as well as an cremation were found during gravel workings. Iron Age and Roman pottery were also recovered from gravel pit. The gravel pit or pits at Latch Farm extends from Cottage Houses south to Mill Road and are also known as Furzy, Lower Close Gravel Pit and Newmans Gravel Pit. The object were found in an area of Terrace 4 Gravel geology.

Lower Close is the old name of the field in which Latch Farm buildings are situated. It extends from the Cottage Homes southward to Mill Road. Druitt was in close touch with the gravel workings on this land from 1927-39 when some 9 acres were dug. The following finds were made: Palaeolithic - 48 hand axes (Acheulian) Mesolithic - microcores Neolithic - fragment of rechipped axe EBA - four domestic beakers, fragments of B found 15 December, 1930 in a gravel pit a few yards east of Latch Farmhouse, fragment of farmhouse, another found with 3 sherds of rusticated ware 20 yds WNW of the barrow. E/MBA - urn or food vessel of Wessex type found with a scraper and probably with an inhumation in a pit 5 6 deep. MBA - flower pot urn, inverted with cremation in pit 46 deep within 100 of barrow. Cornish type EIA - A1 and A2 sherds found in 1927. RB - Storage jar rim, amphora stub found. (1) Gravel working has now finished in this area and the pits are now overgrown or allotments. (2) Monument Periods And Types -

Calkin, J B, Catalogue Druitt Collection, Red House Museum, Christchurch, p137 (Monograph). SWX4362.

Roe, Derek A, 1968, A Gazetteer of British Lower and Middle Palaeolithic sites, 93 (Monograph). SWX4454.

Wymer, J, 1993, The Southern Rivers Palaeolithic Project: the Upper Thames Valley, the Kennet Valley and the Solent drainage system, p138 (Monograph). SWX4473.

<1> Calkin, J B, 1951, The Bournemouth Area in Neolithic and Early Bronze Age Times, p32-70 (Article in serial). SWX3981.

<1> Woodhouse, W C, Various, Field Investigators Comments WCW, F1 WCW 12-JUL-54 (Unpublished document). SWX3798.

<2> Woodhouse, W C, Various, Field Investigators Comments WCW, F2 WCW 15-JUL-54 (Unpublished document). SWX3798.

<3> Calkin, J B, and Green, J F N, 1949, Palaeoliths and terraces near Bournemouth, p36 (Article in serial). SWX3670.

Record last edited

Aug 12 2024 10:46AM