Monument record MDO3626 - Romano-British occupation, Bryanston School

At least one (possibly as many as three) Romano-British pits seen during clearance for an extension to the Music School at Bryanston School in 1958. The one pit identified with any certainty was half-excavated, and produced Roman pottery including a piece of (residual?) Samian Ware, but probably as a group dating the feature to the 4th century AD. A bronze bow-brooch was also recovered, along with some burnt bone. The site report notes that a coin of Constantine was also previously found in the vicinity.

ST 870075: Romano British inhumation burial and occupation debris were found in 1958 at Bryanston School at about 300ft above OD. on a chalk ridge. The burial, an extended adult male in a shallow grave, had been deposited in a wooden coffin. Some 16ft to the North a circular pit, 5 1/2ft deep and 4 1/2ft in diameter, contained chalk rubble, flints, 2nd century to 4th-century pottery including a samian sherd, and a bronze brooch. There were traces of another pit to the southeast. Previously other coins and pottery had been found in the area. <1>

ST 870075. Indications of Romano-British settlement. <2>

<1> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume III (Central) Part 1, 48 (Monograph). SDO146.

<1.1> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1908, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club for 1907, 34 (Serial). SDO17439.

<1.2> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1959, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1958, 108-110 (Serial). SDO58.

<2> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume III (Central) Part 2, 341 (Monograph). SDO136.

‘(10) Inhumation Burial and Occupation Debris (870075), Romano-British, were found in 1958 at Bryanston School at about 300 ft. above O.D. on a chalk ridge. The burial, an extended adult male in a shallow grave, had been deposited in a wooden coffin. Some 16 ft. to the N. a circular pit, 5½ ft. deep and 4½ ft. in diameter, contained chalk rubble, flints, 2nd-century to 4th-century pottery including a samian sherd, and a bronze brooch. There were traces of another pit to the S.E. Previously other coins and pottery had been found in the area. (Dorset Procs. XXVIII (1907), xxxix; LXXX (1958), 108–10.)’

<3> McDermott, J, 1997, Summary Report on an Archaeological Watching Brief at Bryanston School, Blandford, Dorset, 1997 (Unpublished document). SDO14154.

<5> National Record of the Historic Environment, 205462 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Jul 22 2024 12:21PM