Monument record MDO5606 - Iron Age and Romano British Settlement on Gussage Hill, Gussage St Michael

A "banjo enclosure" complex of presumed Iron Age date, part of a cluster of similar enclosures plus field systems and multiple ditched linears on Gussage Hill (see ST 91 SE 3 and associated monument records). Aligned roughly northwest-southeast, the complex comprises an irregular enclosure defined by ditch and external bank. A pair of banjo enclosures intrude into its northeastern side. The southernmost banjo enclosure had been recorded in the early 19th century by Colt Hoare as an earthwork, along with associated linear features and the earthworks of the main enclosure. The southern banjo was discovered more recently via air photography. Pits are visible on air photgraphs within and around the two banjo enclosures, while between them, within the main encloed area, what has been described as an "occupation area" has been revealed by ploughing. This comprises patches of dark soil associated with concemtrations of pottery, primarily of Roman date but with some late Iron Age material also present. Colt Hoare apparently noted traces of occupation continuing as far as the north end of the main enclosure. More recently, sherds of haematite-coated furrowed bowl, described as early Iron Age, were found just to the west. The main enclosure abuts a multiple ditch system at its northwestern end. At its southeast end it appears to abut the northwestern side of the Dorset Cursus (Linear 41). To the south, further linear features run roughyl southwest in the direction of further banjo enclosures. See associated monuments for further details.

<1> Colt Hoare, Sir Richard, 1975, The ancient history of Wiltshire, 1 (Monograph). SDO18077.

<2> Crawford, O G S and Keiller, A, 1928, Wessex from the Air, 112-4 (Monograph). SDO12591.

<3> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1963, Monuments Threatened or Destroyed. A Select List: 1956-1962, 14 (Monograph). SDO12558.

GUSSAGE ST. MICHAEL. COW DOWN [ST 99711361] Romano-British settlement and other earthworks.

<4> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1975, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume V (East), 24 (Monograph). SDO129.

‘(7) IRON AGE AND ROMANO-BRITISH SETTLEMENT (991143–000133), on Gussage Hill, associated with boundary dykes and 'Celtic' fields (Group (82), p. 118), is one of the largest native occupation sites in Dorset. Extending for nearly a mile from N.W. to S.E. it lies on a N.E. slope, just below the summit of the hill, between 300 ft. and 375 ft. above O.D. (Plate 48). The central part of the complex overlies the Dorset Cursus (9), which was integrated with the accompanying pattern of 'Celtic' fields. The earliest plan and account of the site, by Sir Richard Colt Hoare (Ancient Wiltshire II (1821), Roman Aera, 31–3), suggests that it was relatively undamaged at that time, but subsequent accounts show that within a century ploughing had begun to take its toll (Sumner, Cranborne Chase, 73; Wessex from the Air, 112–14). Today, much of the site has been damaged or levelled by cultivation, and from surface inspection of the surviving remains it is not possible to recover with any accuracy the sequence of development. (Plan opposite.)
The N.W. end of the site comprises an irregular, elongated enclosure of about 16 acres defined by a bank with an external ditch. Two smaller enclosures, defined by the same bank and ditch, intrude into the N.E. side of the main enclosure, but are entered from outside it by means of narrow, funnel-like approaches. The northern of these smaller enclosures, covering about ½ acre, has been discovered only recently from the air. The southern, about ¾ acre, has traces of 'outworks' at the entrance. The smaller enclosures were probably for livestock and that on the S.E. is notably devoid of surface finds relating to human occupation. Between the two smaller enclosures, an occupation area (99251415) shows up under the plough as patches of dark soil associated with concentrations of pottery, chiefly Romano-British coarse wares with some samian ware, including a base with the stamp of Maximinus of Lezoux (c. 155–180), indicating that the site was occupied from the early 2nd to the 4th century (Dorset Procs., 90 (1968), 163–4). Sherds of late Iron Age type have also been recovered. Colt Hoare shows occupation extending as far as the N. end of the main enclosure. Fragments of a haematite-coated furrowed bowl of early Iron Age type were found just W. of the enclosure, at 990143 (Dorset Procs., 73 (1951), 115). Boundary dykes, almost certainly later than the main enclosure, extend N. and W. from its N. end. Near the enclosure they comprise three low, rounded parallel banks, close-set with intervening ditches, but these divide or diminish in number as they get further away from the enclosure. It is possible that they represent further enclosures, elsewhere destroyed. The area (986150) adjacent to the dykes, W. of Thorney Down Farm, appears from an air photograph (N.M.R., ST 9914/13) to have been divided into a number of roughly rectangular enclosures defined by ditches.
Other boundary dykes, both single and multiple, extend S.E. from the main enclosure and define an elongated triangular area of about 22 acres; it crosses the Cursus (9) and incorporates long barrows (14) and (15), and round barrows (29–32). Adjoining it on the N.E. are traces of smaller enclosures and beyond it on the S.E., towards the Roman road, is a second occupation area (around 999135). Surface pottery from this area is confined almost entirely to later Romano-British wares (3rd and 4th century) including New Forest products. Almost certainly this is the site where Colt Hoare dug 'in several places and found Roman pottery, brick flues, and even stuccoed walls painted'. Adjacent (999134), a small trapezoidal earthwork, about 110 ft. by 90 ft., is defined by a bank with an external ditch, now heavily ploughed. A small test excavation failed to establish its relationship with the occupation site (Dorset Procs., 91 (1969), 193).
Finds from the site are in D.C.M. and B.M. Selected air photographs—HSL/UK 62/263: 2607; C.U.A.P., LL 10, ANE 32, AQY 83; N.M.R., ST 9914/5 and 11, ST 9913/5/234.’

<5> Bowen, H C, 1990, The Archaeology of Bokerley Dyke, 47-9 (Monograph). SWX800.

<6> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1988, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1987, 133-134 (Serial). SDO87.

<7> Bowen, H C, 1991, The Archaeology of Bokerley Dyke: Inventory, 27 (Monograph). SDO14864.

<8> Barrett, J, Bradley, R and Green, M, 1991, Landscape, Monuments and Society: the prehistory of Cranborne Chase, 227-242 (Monograph). SDO16633.

<9> National Record of the Historic Environment, 871900 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Jan 22 2025 4:14PM