Monument record MDO19587 - Sherborne Old Castle, Castleton; early Christian cemetery

Fragments of human bones were found all over the site of Sherborne Old Castle during excavations directed by C. E. Bean circa. 1953-4. They are thought to antedate the 12th century castle as suggested by the absence of building debris in their fills. Some of the graves have rounded ends.

Fragments of human bones were found all over the site of Sherborne Old Castle during excavations directed by C. E. Bean circa. 1953-4. They are thought to antedate the 12th century castle as suggested by the absence of building debris in their fills. Some of the graves have rounded ends (1).

A Christian cemetery situated on a natural knoll in the Yeo Valley. The cemetery dates from the ninth century AD and partial excavations have located burials across the hilltop. Many of the burials have been disturbed by the later construction of Sherborne Old Castle (ST 61 NW 47). Scheduled (2, 4).

P.R. White conducted excavations for the D.o.E. at Sherborne Old Castle between 1973 and 1976.
The work demonstrated '... that the buildings of Bishop Roger of Salisbury are not the earliest on the site. In addition to the undercroft of a small stone building beneath the area now occupied by the central courtyard of Roger’s complex, a rock-cut ditch with an outer earthen bank passes between the buildings to the W. (14th century) courtyard and then turns to run beneath the 12th century keep. Beneath the inner tail of the bank burials were made in rock-cut graves on an E. and W. axis. The bank and ditch may have enclosed the top of the original knoll before it was remodelled into a plateau for the 12th century bailey.’ (3).

<1> Bean, C E, 1955, Excavations at Sherborne Old Castle. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, p.141-2 (Article in serial). SDO10303.

<2> National Monuments Record, NMR Monument Record, ST 61 NW 124, NMR UID: 1190788 (Index). SDO9937.

<3> Webster, L E and Cherry, J, 1974, Dorset: Castleton, Sherborne Old Castle; Medieval Archaeology (Article in serial). SDO10318.

<4> DCMS, 1997, Scheduled Monument Notification 1997, 03-Jul-97 (Scheduling record). SDO17426.

<5> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1190788 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Mar 20 2023 2:50PM