Monument record MDO5018 - Buzbury Rings, Tarrant Keyneston

Buzbury Rings is an enclosed Iron Age and Romano-British settlement. It has inner and an outer enclosures. The inner enclosure is defined by a single bank and contains a number of possible hut circles. Numerous objects and much occupation debris, including sherds of Iron Age and Roman pottery, have been found at various times, almost all in the inner enclosure. The record for this monument has been enhanced with support from Wessex Water. The settlement earthworks are visible on aerial photographs and Environment Agency lidar imagery and were digitally plotted during the Dorset Middle Stour AIM Project.

Buzbury Rings is an enclosed Iron Age and Romano-British settlement. It has inner and an outer enclosures. The inner enclosure is defined by a single bank and contains a number of possible hut circles. Numerous objects and much occupation debris, including sherds of Iron Age and Roman pottery, have been found at various times, almost all in the inner enclosure.
The record for this monument has been enhanced with support from Wessex Water.

The earthworks and finds indicate a small rural settlement, continuously occupied from the Iron Age to the end of the Roman period. The form of the earthworks suggests more than one stage of construction. <1>

The settlement earthworks are visible on aerial photographs and Environment Agency lidar imagery [21 -23]. and were digitally plotted during the Dorset Middle Stour AIM Project.

Stewart, D, 2014, Buzbury Rings, Dorset. A Geophysical Survey (Unpublished document). SDO21389.

Vinnels, Laurence, 2024, Repair Works, The Ashley Wood Golf Club, Blandford, Dorset: Results of Archaeological Monitoring and Recording (Unpublished document). SDO21166.

<1> Quinnell, N V, 1955, Annotated plan of Buzbury Rings 1:2500 scale (Unpublished document). SDO17497.

<1.1> National Monuments Record, NMR ST 9105/1 (Aerial Photograph). SDO17499.

<2> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1956, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1954, 94-95 (Serial). SDO54.

<3> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1957, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1956, 91 (Serial). SDO56.

‘Potsherds from Buzbury Rings, Tarrant Keyneston. A few sherds (1956.29) were brought in by an unknown donor from Buzbury Rings (cf. Proc., Vol. 76, pp. 94-5). One sherd from an apparently hand-made vessel, and two of brown ware with broad, shallow furrows on the outside, may be pre-Roman; the remainder is coarse ware of Roman date, including both early and late forms.’

<4> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1959, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1958, 107-108 (Serial). SDO58.

<5> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1965, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1964, 112-114 (Serial). SDO64.

<6> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1967, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1966, 121 (Serial). SDO66.

‘Recent finds at Buzbury Rings, Tarrant Keyneston. Mr. C. G. Rudd has informed the Museum of his having found parts of two rotary querns (upper and lower stones) of 'greenstone' in plough-soil at Buzbury Rings, W. of the Blandford road. He also found part of a mortar of 'shelly limestone' (Purbeck marble or burrstone?) compared with the Maiden Castle, fig. 80, nos. 57-8, in the N. part of the inner enclosure, about ST 91850592. Mr. Rudd also deposited with the Museum a number of coins collected from the area around Badbury Rings, Shapwick.’

<7> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1972, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume IV (North), 102-104 (Monograph). SDO99.

'(16) Buzbury Rings (919059), an enclosed Iron Age and Romano-British settlement in the extreme N.W. of the parish, lies at the head of a gully on the E. slope of a broad N.-S. Chalk ridge, between 300 ft. and 360 ft. above sea-level (Plate 79). The remains are much damaged by the modern road from Blandford Forum to Wimborne Minster, which cuts across the site from N.W.-S.E., and by numerous tracks. Part of a golf-course occupies the N.E. third of the site, and much of the rest has been damaged or destroyed by ploughing. Several linear ditches or tracks run up to or pass close by the site ; some of them are integrated with ‘ Celtic ‘ fields which extend S., S.W. and E. (see p. 118, Group (70)).

The settlement has an inner and an outer enclosure. The inner enclosure, roughly hexagonal in shape and about 400 ft. in diameter, covers a little under 3 acres; it is bounded by a single bank 30 ft. wide and 4 ft. high; the N.E. part has been obliterated by the road. Close to the road a large number of breaks in the bank have probably been caused by later tracks, except for two in the S.E., one or both of which may be original. Within the enclosure, which appears to have been the main area of occupation, a number of roughly circular depressions, between 20 ft. and 30 ft. in diameter and much mutilated by modern ploughing, are probably hut sites; air photographs (N.M.R.) indicate many pits,

The outer enclosure is kidney-shaped and covers about 10 acres. On the N. and W. it is bounded by a single bank, 20 ft. wide and up to 3 ft. high. There is now virtually no sign of the outer ditch, but excavation revealed that it was V-shaped, 10 ft. wide and 5 ft. deep. An inner ditch, just visible along the W. side, was of similar depth, but only 7 ft. wide. The S. half of the outer enclosure is bounded by double banks and a medial ditch; where best preserved the banks are 24 ft. wide and stand 4 ft. above the bottom of the ditch, which is 10 ft. across. Numerous breaks in these banks appear to be caused by later tracks. In the S.E., immediately W. of the modern road, the double banks are replaced by a single, more massive bank, 6 ft. high and set somewhat outside the general line of the outer banks. Three oval depressions cut into the inner face of the single bank are possibly hut circles. About 50 ft. to the N.W., immediately outside the bank of the inner enclosure, three U-shaped scoops may also be hut circles. In the S.W. quadrant of the outer enclosure the inner bank swings back from the outer bank and curves around on a line parallel with and 80 ft. away from the bank of the inner enclosure.

Numerous objects and much occupation debris have been found at various times, almost all in the inner enclosure. They include Iron Age sherds and Roman pottery, mainly of the 2nd century but also of the 3rd and 4th centuries, with large quantities of ox and sheep bones, struck flints, and much wattle-marked daub, presumably from huts. Excavation through the outer enclosure bank on the W. yielded no dateable material.

The earthworks and finds indicate a small rural settlement, continuously occupied from the Iron Age to the end of the Roman period. The form of the earthworks suggests more than one stage of construction (Wessex from the Air, 65-5, Pl. v; Dorset Procs., 78 (1956), 91; Ibid. 80 (1958), 107-8; Ibid. 86 (1964), 112-14. Finds in D.C.M.).'

<8> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, Externally held archive: RCH01/097 RCHME Inventory: Dorset IV (North) (Unpublished document). SDO17498.

<9> Historic England, Historic England Archive, 884073 Buzbury Rings/survey (Index). SDO14738.

Earthworks of an Iron Age and Romano-British settlement, with three profiles from various relevent points. Amendments and additional notation has been made in pencil.

<10> Historic England, Historic England Archive, 884095 Buzbury Rings/excavation section (Index). SDO14738.

Excavation of Section trench A. Annotation of stratigraphical layers and find locations.

<11> Historic England, Historic England Archive, 884112 Buzbury Rings/excavation section (Index). SDO14738.

Preliminary drawing of excavated section trench A. Identification of stratigraphical layers and find locations, with outline in pen and details in pencil. Inscription: Section trench A 1957, North face.

<12> Historic England, Historic England Archive, 884136 Buzbury Rings/excavation section (Index). SDO14738.

Excavated section trench B, detailing the geological strata.

<13> Historic England, Historic England Archive, 884175 Buzbury Rings/excavation section (Index). SDO14738.

Preliminary sketch of Excavation Section trench B, detailing the geological strata.

<14> Historic England, Historic England Archive, 884193 Buzbury Rings/profiles (Index). SDO14738.

Preliminary sketch of four cross section profiles, with vertical measurements supplied. Inscription: sections for contour plan

<15> Historic England, Historic England Archive, 884620 Buzbury Rings/profiles (Index). SDO14738.

Preliminary sketch of profiles, from Section 5 to 9. Annotation describes vertical measurements.

<16> Historic England, Historic England Archive, 884692 Buzbury Rings/profile (Index). SDO14738.

Preliminary sketch of profiles, including that from NW to SE. Minimul annotation

<17> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey 1:10,000 scale map, 1976 (Map). SDO17396.

(ST 91850590) Buzbury Rings Hut Circles (NR)

<18> Historic England, Historic England Archive, AF0616213 RCHME: Exhibition - Then and Now (Index). SDO14738.

Mounted prints, section drawings, sketches and surveys used in the "Then and Now" exhibition to highlight the changes which occurred in historical sites between the 1930s and 1960s. Most of the prints are aerial photographs. Condition : SATISFACTORY

<19> Lock, G, and Ralston, I, 2017, Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland [ONLINE], EN3585 (Digital archive). SDO17130.

<20> National Record of the Historic Environment, 209339 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

<21> Royal Air Force, 01-JAN-1948, RAF/CPE/UK/2431 3319 (Aerial Photograph). SDO18502.

<22> Royal Air Force, 17-JAN_1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1934 RP 3156 (Aerial Photograph). SDO18581.

<23> Environment Agency, 16-NOV-2021, LIDAR Environment Agency DTM (Aerial Photograph). SDO18034.

Record last edited

Apr 4 2025 11:14AM