Find Spot record MDO19437 - Roman tile recovered from site X10, Town Hall car park, Christchurch

More than 20kg of roman tile, including 16 tegula fragments, nine imbrice fragments, three fragents with curvilinear decoration and two vitrified fragments, were recovered from an excavation at the Town Hall car park, Christchurch (site X10), where they had been re-used as lining for a mid-late Saxon oven or corn dryer.

G. Dowdell of Poole Museums conducted an archaeological excavation at the Town Hall car park, Christchurch (site X10) during 1974.

More than 20kg of roman tile, including 16 tegula fragments, nine imbrice fragments, three fragents with curvilinear decoration and two vitrified fragments, were recovered where they had been re-used as lining for a mid-late Saxon oven or corn dryer. There were also five tiles containing peg holes. (1)

It seems likely that this large quantity of tile would have originated from a late Roman building still visible in the middle Saxon period and probably situated in the Christchurch vicinity. The re-use of Roman tiles for the construction of the oven seems to represent the opportunistic plundering of locally available materials.

<1> Jarvis, K S, 1983, Excavations in Christchurch 1969-80, 34-7, 99 (Monograph). SWX4028.

Record last edited

Feb 28 2024 2:07PM