Monument record MDO5480 - Possible Roman road at Cogdean, Corfe Mullen

Possible remains of a Roman road from Lake Farm to Wareham and Purbeck. In 1987 Norman Field excavated and recorded a section through the road at Cogdean. Linear banked and ditched features at this location are faintly visible on 1940s aerial photographs and these may be associated with this monument. They were digitally plotted by the Dorset Stour NMP project.

SY992979 to 991975. A part of the suspected early Roman road from Lake to Purbeck/Wareham via Corfe Mullen has been located between Mount Pleasent Farm and Cogdeon. It is 4m wide, well cambered, with side-ditches and a margo or sidewalk. (1)

During the autumn of 1987 there has been extensive earth-disturbance preceding the building of a new road linking Wareham Road and Wimborne Road, Corfe Mullen, on the site of Mount Pleasant Farm, in the area known as Cogdean. With the help of local volunteers and support from the developers, it was possible to confirm at a number of points from SY 992 979 to 991975 the existence of a well-cambered road 4 metres wide with side ditches and a margo or side–walk.

Linear banked and ditched features at this location are faintly visible on 1940s aerial photographs (2). The features are indistinct but potentially comprise broken lines of parallel linear banks with a section of narrow ditch in between these. The features are aligned southwest to northeast across two historic fields recorded on the OS 1st Edition map and extend for a total distance of approximately 180m. The features are located around 12m east of the position indicated by the monument polyline; this may be due to rectification discrepancies. It is possible these features are associated with this monument and are part of the Roman road. They were digitally plotted by the Dorset Stour NMP project.

<1> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1988, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1987, 130 (Serial). SDO87.

<2> Royal Air Force, 12-DEC-46, RAF/CPE/UK/1893 RP 3250-1 (Aerial Photograph). SDO16171.

<3> National Record of the Historic Environment (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Feb 19 2024 12:11PM