Monument record MDO18443 - Poundbury Post-Roman grain drier 3

Post-Roman grain drier 3 was discovered within the post-Roman pit group iii, immediately east of Mausolea R9 & R10 (which may have still been extant at this date), during the 1966-79 excavations at Poundbury, Dorchester. It comprised a sub-rectangular pit with a ledge around the southern end, which had some charred grain (wheat and oats, with some weeds) and ash and charcoal. A radiocarbon date was obtained from the charred grain in the oven chamber, giving an uncalibrated date of AD 420 ± 60. Post-Roman grain drier 3 was assigned, along with buildings PR1a, PR2b, PR3a, PR15, PR16 and possibly PR14; pit groups ii-v; grain driers 1,2,3 & 5 to phase 1 of the post-Roman settlement. This represented the earliest post-Roman settlement on the site of the late Roman cemetery.

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 excavation report and archive (1)(2). Further refinement of the post-Roman settlement sequence has been undertaken by Christopher Sparey Green since the initial publication of the site and this has been taken into account in the following description (3) (4).

Grain drier 3 lay within the post-Roman pit group iii and immediately east of Mausolea R9 & R10 (which may have still been extant at this date). The relationship of grain drier 3 to the pits of pit group iii is uncertain. Both the pits and the grain drier were cut by the post-Roman enclosure PR5. Grain drier 3 was a sub-rectangular pit with a flat base, measuring about 3m long, 1.8m wide and 0.9m deep, with a ledge running around the southern end, which was probably contained the oven structure. There was no surviving stone lining but there was a large Ham hill stone slab at the base. It contained a small amount of carbonised grain and plant remains (mainly wheat and oats with weeds) at the base of the southern end, possibly the remains of a poorly-cleaned crop. This provided a radiocarbon date of AD 420 ± 60 (HAR3081).

In a later reappraisal of the post-Roman settlements, this feature was assigned, along with buildings PR1a, PR2a, PR3a, PR5, PR15, and possibly PR14; pit groups ii-v; grain driers 1,2 & 5 to phase 1 of the post-Roman settlement. This represented the earliest post-Roman settlement on the site of the late Roman cemetery (4).

<1> Sparey Green, C, 1987, Excavations at Poundbury, Dorchester, Dorset 1966-1982. Volume 1: The Settlements (Monograph). SDO9630.

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

<3> Sparey Green, C J, 1996, Poundbury, Dorset: settlement and economy in the Late and post-Roman Dorchester (Article in monograph). SDO10040.

<4> Sparey Green, C J, Living amongst the dead: From Roman cemetery to post-Roman monastic settlement at Poundbury (Article in monograph). SDO10041.

Record last edited

Aug 3 2010 5:30PM