EDO4478 - Railway Cutting, Wareham Bridge, Dorchester

Inhumations and other remains were found during the widening of a railway cutting east of Wareham Bridge, Dorchester during 1884. Some of the discoveries came from a ditch 7-8ft deep containing much pottery, animal bones and human teeth. It ran approximately NW-SE and was seen in both faces of the cutting in 1884, and later at Wareham house. It was interpreted at the time as a 'Celtic trackway' [2][3]. The finds included several circular pits filled with chalk 4ft in diameter and 5ft deep filled with chalk. One of the pits had a burnt floor and a Durotrigian pot on a stone in the base, suggestive of a pottery kiln. Another pit contained a brooch and bronze bracelet. Nearby a grave contained three grey-back pottery vessels. None of the remains found need be later than the end of the 1st century [1]