Monument record MDO44125 - Roman well, Woodcutts Common, Sixpenny Handley

A Roman well excavated by General Pitt Rivers. One of two wells found during excavation of a Romano-British settlement, and subsequently restored.

'B' Phase III well, 4ft diameter and 188ft deep. It contained some 4th century pottery and at its bottom lay the bucket which had been used to draw its water. <3>

Both wells have been filled with earth, and stones nearby record their excavation by Pitt-Rivers. The mouth of each well is centrally placed within a water-drawing platform 4.0m in diameter by 0.7m in depth. Presumably these are a restoration of the originals. <4>

<1> Pitt Rivers, A H L F, 1887, Excavations in Cranborne Chase near Rushmore, on the borders of Dorset and Wilts. Vol. 1: excavations in the Romano-British village on Woodcuts Common, and Romano-British antiquities in Rushmore Park (Monograph). SDO18399.

<2> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey 25 inch scale map, 1901 (Map). SDO18020.

('A' ST 96281809; 'B' ST 96311810) ROMAN WELL (R)(twice). (1)

<3> Piggott, S, Stone, J F S, and Shortt, H De S, 1947, The Archaeology of Salisbury and District: Britons, Romans and Saxons Round Salisbury and in Cranborne Chase: reviewing the excavations of General Pitt-Rivers, 1881-1898; Antiquaries Journal CIV, 1-26 (Article in serial). SDO16715.

<4> Quinnell, N V, Various, Field Investigators Comments NVQ, F1 NVQ 08-APR-54 (Unpublished document). SDO11903.

<5> National Record of the Historic Environment, 209824 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Aug 30 2022 11:30AM