Monument record MDO4945 - Iron Age settlement at Barton Field, Tarrant Hinton

A multi-period site with remains of a possible Bronze Age cemetery, Iron Age and Romano British settlement and a Roman Villa. A large settlement began in the Early or Middle Iron Age (6th-5th century BC) and continued into the Romano-British period (mid-1st century AD). Evidence of Iron Age occupation has been recorded all over the site and includes an extensive settlement of round houses, pits and ditches and two middle Iron Age burials. The site is similar to the large Durotrigian Iron Age settlements of Cranborne Chase. There is little evidence to explain the transformation of the late Iron Age site into a Roman settlement in the 2nd century AD. However, it seems likely from the remains found that the Iron Age site continued and a slow metamorphosis into a Romanised settlement occurred in the 2nd and 3rd centuries.The site was first excavated in 1845 and extensively excavated between 1968 and 1984 by the Wimborne Archaeological Group. Many of the finds are on display in the Museum of East Dorset, Wimborne.

Excavations from 1970 to 1973 revealed four 4th century buildings partly used for working and storage. Several Iron Age pits were found, with some Iron Age 'B' pottery, and four graves with fragmented beakers suggested the existence of a Bronze Age cemetery. In 1974-6 a new site to the NE was excavated, revealing four 2nd and 3rd century buildings, one of which was a bath-house. There was also a walled enclosure with four possible furnaces or kilns. Beneath these buildings were an Iron Age roundhouse 15m in diameter and a large number of Iron Age pits. Finds, including pottery and a fine La Tene bow brooch, suggest a substantial settlement with occupation from an Iron Age 'A' phase through to the 1st century AD. (4-10)

Excavated between 1977 and 1983, the four 4th century buildings arranged around the courtyard were preceded by 3 earlier buildings. The whole complex overlay an extensive Iron Age settlement. (11-20)

This source is a report on the excavations at Barton Field, Tarrant Hinton (Dorset) and includes detailed information on the various periods of settlement occupation as well descriptions of the finds including coins, pottery and structural materials. Five periods of occupation of the site are described in this source: the first phase is the Bronze Age occupation (late 3rd to early 2nd millennium); the second is the Iron Age settlement (6th century BC to 1st century AD); the third is the Iron Age to Romano-British transition (1st century AD); the fourth is the Romano-British settlement (2nd and 3rd centuries) and the fifth is the 4th century courtyard villa. Little information is provided for the end of the Roman villa as the site has been damaged by 19th century excavations and ploughing. In the summary a date of the early 5th century AD is provided but the latest datable evidence is a coin from the House of Theodosius which provides a post 388 date to the villa and the source adds that occupation may have continued until the last quarter of the 4th century. For a detailed description of the site please refer to the source. (23)

National Record of the Historic Environment, 210228 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Tanner, R E, 1971, Excavations on the Roman Villa at Barton Field, Tarrant Hinton. Proceedings of the Dorset Natlural History and Archaeological Society 92, 1971, 151-152 (Article in serial). SDO19439.

Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1972, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume IV (North), 99 (Monograph). SDO99.

Tanner, R E, 1972, Excavations on the Roman Villa at Barton Field, Tarrant Hinton. Proceedings of the Dorset Natlural History and Archaeological Society 93, 1971, 161-163 (Article in serial). SDO19440.

Tanner, R E, 1973, Excavations on the Roman Villa at Barton Field, Tarrant Hinton. Proceedings of the Dorset Natlural History and Archaeological Society 94, 1973, 86-87 (Article in serial). SDO19441.

Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1985, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1984, 118 (Serial). SDO84.

Graham, A, 2006, Barton Field, Tarrant Hinton, Dorset (Monograph). SDO12247.

Record last edited

Jan 20 2025 10:52AM