Monument record MDO45297 - Cremation cemetery known as The Launceston Sepulchralia, Launceston Down, Tarrant Launceston

A cremation cemetery of possible Early or Middle Bronze Age date discovered during the mid-19th century and reported on briefly by Charles Warne. It was discovered by some labourers "employed in the preparation of the Down for planting", something that required deep trenching. Warne's account is a little ambiguous - he refers to the labourers' discovery of a dense layer of flints some 12 to 18 inches deep and circa 12 feet in diameter just below the surface. Beneath this layer was "a stratum of dark unctuous mould, interspersed with charcoal, ashes, pieces of bone, and numerous fragments of coarse pottery; whilst at the bottom appeared a range of cists cut in the natural chalk, which were filled with burnt bones and ashes". Warne also stated that there "seemed to have been a series of these sepulchralia within a space of one hundred and fifty yards, all presenting an uniformity of arrangement and contents". The date of these burials is unclear. Warne compared the contents with items found in some of the barrows in the area, suggesting an Early or Middle Bronze Age date. The pottery vessels do not appear to survive, and no illustration of any of them is known.

A cremation cemetery at Launceston, dated to the Middle or Late Bronze Age, was discovered in the 19th century by labourers trenching a part of the Down for planting. It was named "The Launceston Sepulchralia" by Warne, and is thought to have been situated at Hyde Hill Plantation (ST 949105). Warne describes a series of "sepulchralia" within a space of one hundred and fifty yards, each consisting of an area about twelve feet in diameter covered by a bed of close-packed flints. Beneath the flints was a layer of mould with charcoal, ashes, bone and sherds of coarse pottery, and below this were cists cut into the natural chalk, filled with burnt bones and ashes.

The flint platforms appeared to be similar to those in pond-barrows, and the site may have analogies with the Easton Down urnfield (SU 23 NW 28). <1-4>

<1> Warne, C, 1866, The Celtic Tumuli of Dorset (1866), 57-8, [My Own Personal Researches: Additional researches] (Monograph). SWX8166.

<2> Society of Antiquaries of London, 1944, Archaeologia 90, 50 (Serial). SDO16830.

<3> Grinsell, L V, 1959, Dorset Barrows, 136 (Monograph). SDO132.

<4> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1972, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume IV (North), 106 (Monograph). SDO99.

<5> National Record of the Historic Environment, 210246 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Jan 23 2023 9:46AM