Monument record MDO2261 - Heedless William, Puddletown

A stone called Heedless William situated on the south side of the road opposite Heedless William's pond. The stone, mentioned in 1270 and noted by Hutchins in 1774, was at one time considered to be a boundary cross and it has also been suggested that it is a Roman milestone. The probability of it being Roman is based on its morphology and proximity to a Roman Road.

The remains of an old boundary cross are situated on the south side of the road opposite Heedless William's Pond. <1>

Pope stated that it has been conjectured that this stone which now serves as a boundary stone, was a Roman milestone and may have been taken from the Roman road (RR 4e). <3>

SY 73149128. A circular shaft of sandstone with broken top, standing 1.7m above ground level and 0.4m diameter is situated on the north side of the road and not the south side as stated by Hutchins. <4>

The stone situated east of Heedless William's Pond (SY 73149128) is surely marked in error on OS maps as the remains of a cross. <5>

Mills refers to lapiden voc' Heuedles William - 'the stone called Headless William' which is mentioned in 1270 and must refer to 'the remains of a cross' noted in 1774 by Hutchins and so marked on the OS 6" just south of the pond on the Puddletown/Stinsford parish boundary. <6>

SY 73139128. A stone situated on the Stinsford/Puddletown boundary, and as described by (4) save that it has flattish sides with rounded corners, much weathered but retaining the marks of stroked tooling. It is doubtful if it was ever a cross shaft. The conjectural possibility of a Roman milestone can be based on its proximity to the Roman road, and similarity to the Stinsford milestone in height and girth. The Stinsford stone is, however, of limestone, is similar in section only nearer the base and has 'pecked' tooling. The name Heedless William is not used locally but is clearly perpetuated in the nearby 'Headless Williams' Pond'. Positioned correctly on 1:2500 M.S.D. <7>

<1> Shipp, W, and Hodson, J W (eds), 1863, The History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset. 3rd edition. Volume 2, 616 (Monograph). SWX1269.

<2> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1902 (Map). SWX1540.

(SY 73149128) Cross (NR) (rems of)

<3> Pope, A, 1906, Old Stone Crosses of Dorset (Bibliographic reference). SWX1408.

<4> Swatridge, G C, Various, Field Investigators Comments GCS, F1 GCS 06-DEC-54 (Unpublished document). SWX1169.

<5> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1959, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1957, 110-112 (Serial). SDO57.

‘A third stone described by Pope (p. 117) is relevant because, although of coarse reddish sandstone (probably local heathstone), it is otherwise very similar in appearance to the Stinsford ‘milestone’; it also bears an O.S. bench mark. This monolith (73149128) surely described in error on O.S. maps as the remains of a cross, stands in the garden of Pond House just inside Puddletown parish boundary, east of Heedless William’s Pond. Its girth is a little greater, and it projects about 5 ft. above ground.’

<6> Mills, A D, 1977, The place-names of Dorset, Part 1: the Isle of Purbeck, the hundreds of Rowbarrow, Hasler, Winfrith, Culliford Tree, Bere Regis, Barrow, Puddletown St George, 370 (Monograph). SWX972.

<6.1> 1372, Cartulary of Christchurch Priory (1372) in BM (Cotton Tib. D V1) (Unpublished document). SDO20173.

<6.2> Hutchins, J, 1774, The History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset. Volume 1. 1st edition, 487 (Monograph). SWX2949.

<7> Quinnell, N V, Various, Field Investigators Comments NVQ, F2 NVQ 07-JAN-81 (Unpublished document). SDO11903.

<8> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1989, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1988, 161-163 (Serial). SDO88.

<9> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 2013, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 2012, 61-7 (Serial). SDO16328.

<10> National Record of the Historic Environment, 455011 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Nov 9 2023 9:42AM