Monument record MDO3645 - Roman burial, Ponsonby Farm, Cann

The burial of a child in a lead coffin was found in 1916. As well as the skeleton, the coffin held leaves, thought to be box, which were interpreted as the remains of a funerary wreath. A piece of New Forest ware was found nearby. The record for this monument has been enhanced with support from Wessex Water.

A lead Roman coffin was found in the lime-kiln field at Ponsonby Farm, Cann, in April 1916.

Surface quarrying for road metal was in progress and the coffin was found 3 1/2ft. below the surface, and contained a
skeleton which was tipped out and 're-buried' by the local police.

Some fragments of Romano-British ware were in the coffin, and some leaves. A sherd of New Forest ware was found nearby.

The coffin was 3'8" long, approximately 12" wide and 7" deep. It was evidently that of a child; it was unornamented and the lid had been formed by bending a sheet of lead at the extremities fit over the coffin. The whole rested in what at first looked like a stone base, but was found to be a cement 'tray'. The leaves found in the coffin were examined and shewn to be sprigs of box. The leaves are reported by the quarrymen to have formed a circle at the head of the coffin, which was partly filled with water when they found it. <1>

The field to the south-east of the house is said to have been the one in which the coffin was found. I was given this
information by a workman who was present when the coffin was found. The field has been extensively quarried in the past but has since been laid out to form a pasture field. The coffin is in Shaftesbury Museum.

(Area centred at ST 882212) The coffin and the cement tray on which the coffin rested, were seen in Shaftesbury Museum but no closer provenance than that given by Mrs Drew was obtainable. The field indicated is grass covered, but shows traces of light surface quarrying throughout. There is no quarry face as such, only a slight lowering around the boundary fences, and there was no visible trace of antiquity. <2>

(ST 88362112) Roman coffin, now in Shaftesbury Museum. <3>

Similar information to Authy 1. <5>

<1> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1918, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club for 1916-17, 68-73 (Serial). SDO26.

<2> Quinnell, N V, Various, Field Investigators Comments NVQ, F1 NVQ 23-JAN-56 (Unpublished document). SDO11903.

<2.1> Drew, Mrs G, Oral information, correspondence (not archived) or staff comments: Mrs G Drew (tenant), Ponsonby Farm, Cann (Verbal communication). SDO18344.

<3> Teulon Porter, Noel, Annotated record map 1 to 6 inch scale in Shaftesbury Museum (Gold Hill), 18.2.60 (Map). SDO18343.

<4> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1969 (Map). SWX1540.

(ST 88362112) Roman Coffin found AD 1916 (NAT)

<5> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1972, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume IV (North), 10 (Monograph). SDO99.

'(10) INHUMATION BURIAL (88362112), of a child in a lead coffin, was found at Cann Common in 1916. The undecorated coffin, set in a cement tray, measured 3½ ft. in length by 10 ins. to 12 ins. in width and was 7 ins high; the lid was slightly larger. As well as the skeleton the coffin held leaves, apparently of box and perhaps from a funerary wreath, and sherds of pottery ; a sherd of New Forest ware was found near by. Coffin and tray are now in Shaftesbury Museum (Dorset Proces. XXXVIII (1917), 68-73).'

<6> National Record of the Historic Environment, 206530 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Mar 17 2023 9:07AM