Monument record MDO18413 - Poundbury Late Roman Mausoleum R3

Late Roman mausoleum R3 was discovered in the western part of the main Late Roman cemetery during the 1966-1979 excavations at Poundbury. The mausoleum was rectangular and the walls had been comprehensively robbed and survived only as lines of yellow mortar with stone impressions on the northern, southern and western sides. A coin at the base of the robber trench gives a post-AD351 date for the demolition of the building. No trace of the eastern wall survived. Substantial quantities of stone roof tile and stone rubble were found within the structure. Four graves were found within the mausoleum, but only one was fully excavated; the others having been recorded in 1914-18. A lead coffin discovered in 1914-18 might have come from one of the other disturbed graves.

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).

Mausoleum R3 was found on site A in the western part of the main Late Roman cemetery. It had been disturbed y WWI and WWII activity. The walls had been comprehensively robbed and the northern, southern and western wall lines survived only as yellow mortar with stone impressions adhering to the natural chalk. A coin at the base of the robber material gives a terminus post quem of AD350-51 for the demolition of the building. No trace of the eastern wall survived but the plaster base for the western wall was 0.7m wide and 4.7m long, the plaster for the southern and northern walls survived for lengths of 7.0m and 6.1m respectively. A construction terrace or trench extended for 0.3m outside the walls and was filled with brown chalky loam with mortar, limestone and flint debris. Short sections of a shallow U-profiled gully were found running parallel and outside of the construction terrace on the north and south sides, perhaps representing a drip gully.

No floors were found within this structure, but a possible occupation layer containing Romano-British pottery and oyster shells was found in the SW corner. The structure was filled with a substantial layer of rubble comprising mixed limestone roof tile and building materials. The rubble also sealed a roof fall layer of limestone roof tiles, suggesting that the roof had collapsed and the wall subsequently fell in or was robbed. Four graves [48], [53], [54] & [55] were within the building and partly sealed by the roof fall debris. Only grave [48] was fully excavated, the others having been recorded in 1914-18. Grave [48] contained a male of 25 years or more in a wooden coffin. Grave [55] was not excavated and graves [53] and [54] were disturbed so that their original contents could not be recovered. A lead coffin discovered in 1914-18 (3) might have come from one of the disturbed graves.

A group of burials to the east of the building may coincide with the position of the east wall. Unfortunately the upper fills of these graves were disturbed by a WW2 slit trench and it was not possible to reconstruct a stratigraphical relationship between them and the building.

<1> Farwell, D E and Molleson, T I, 1993, Excavations at Poundbury, Dorchester, Dorset 1966-1980. Volume II: The Cemeteries (Monograph). SDO9538.

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

<3> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 3, Dorchester 225c (Monograph). SDO150.

Record last edited

Aug 3 2010 5:26PM