Find Spot record MDO3490 - Iron Age finds from Bowley's Plantation, Crossways

Excavations by Norman Field in 1959 and 1960 revealed shallow pits to the east of an enclosure in Bowley's Plantation. Complete Durotrigian pottery jars had been placed in upright positions in the base of the pits. It is not clear if the pits were associated with the enclosure, only one fragment of pottery of similar fabric being found within the filling of the enclosure ditch.

<1> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1961, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1960, 85 (Serial). SDO60.

'Pottery from the Earthwork in Bowley's Plantation, Owermoigne. In the Proceedings, vol. 18, p. 103, reference was made to parts of a vessel 'with a sagging base' recovered from the lower filling of the ditch, and which appeared to confirm the possibility of a medieval date for the enclosure, despite the discovery of two Durotrigian vessels close by. On closer examination the thirteen joining pieces proved to belong to the side of a carinated bowl, of which the base and rim are missing, in ordinary dark burnished Ruotrigian ware. The vessel thus provides no confirmation of a medieval context for the enclosure, although this remains a possibility. Sherds from within the enclosure, on the over hand, have been shown to belong to a Bronze Age vessel.'

<2> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 3, 603 (Monograph). SDO150.

Native vessels, Iron Age 'C' or early Romano-British, were found outside and in the ditch of an enclosure at Bowley's plantation (see Enclosures, Owermoigne (36)).

<3> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 3, 503 (Monograph). SDO150.

‘(36) ENCLOSURE, near-rectangular (SY 78 NE; 769880), partly survives in Bowley's Plantation at 200 ft. above O.D. on a plateau (Reading Beds) with ferruginous gravels and sandy clays. The W. part, outside the plantation, has been destroyed by ploughing, but the area enclosed was originally about ½ acre. On the E. is an outer bank, 16 ft. across and 4½ ft. high above a ditch of similar width, with an inner bank, 15 ft. wide and 1 ft. high above the interior. The single causewayed entrance, 10 ft. wide, is slightly S. of centre on the E. side.
Excavation by Mr. N.H. Field at C-D (Dorset Procs. LXXXI (1959), 102–3; LXXXII (1960), 85) showed the ditch to be V-shaped and 6 ft. deep below the outer bank. Sherds from a bowl in the primary silting were comparable in date with complete Durotrigian jars found upright in shallow pits immediately E. of the bank outside this point. Pollen analysis by Professor Dimbleby suggested open land when the earthwork was constructed and thus a mediaeval or later date. Its form is without any close parallel in the area to give further guidance on the date.’

Record last edited

Jul 4 2024 10:33AM