Monument record MDO3874 - Late Iron Age settlement, Morel Leas, Common Mead Lane, Gillingham

Some limited evidence has been recovered for a Late Iron Age settlement at Common Mead Lane, Gillingham. The evidence is in the form of a few Durotrigian artefacts and the settlement is likely to represent a precursor to the substantial Romano-British settlement on the same site.

<1> Farrar, R A H, 1951, Romano-British pottery south-west of the reservoir near Common Mead Lane, Gillingham; Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society (Article in serial). SDO11485.

<3> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1972, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume IV (North), 35 (Monograph). SDO99.

‘(100) ROMAN OCCUPATION DEBRIS (79952620) was found in 1869 and also in 1951 near Common Mead Lane, on an exposed ridge of Kimmeridge Clay, about 300 ft. above sea-level. Stone pitching and loose stones were found, together with 2nd-century samian ware, querns, nails and staples, a bronze spoon, a Constantinian coin, and bones of oxen, sheep, pigs and horses. Pottery noted in 1951 was Romano-British, except for a few fragments probably of Iron Age ware. (Hutchins III, 661–2; Dorset Procs., 73 (1951), 112.)’

<4> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1978, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1976, 56 (Serial). SDO76.

<5> Shaftesbury and District Archaeological Group, 1983, Excavations at Common Mead Lane, Gillingham; Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 146 (Article in serial). SDO11476.

<6> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1983, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1983, 146 (Serial). SDO83.

<7> Cox, M, 1984, 'Excavation at Common Mead Lane, Gillingham, July 1984' Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society (Article in serial). SDO11479.

<8> Moore W F and Ross M S, 1989, The Romano-British Settlement, Common Mead Lane, Gillingham, Dorset; Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society (Article in serial). SDO11481.

'Roman occupation debris had been noted from Common Mead Lane, Gillingham in 1869 and 1951, but the development of the site for housing in 1975 necessitated rapid excavation and fieldwork by the Shaftesbury and District Archaeological Group (SDAG). An area of some 6 ha was examined, from which unstratified artefacts verified a Durotrigian phase of the first century BC/AD with thereafter apparent continuity from c. 75 AD to the fourth century AD.'

Record last edited

Apr 23 2025 2:17PM