Monument record MDO6059 - Enclosure on Woodcutts Common, Sixpenny Handley

A prehistoric settlement surrounded by a bank and ditch. Late Iron Age/Romano-British in date. Dug into by Austen in 1863 and excavated by General Pitt-Rivers in 1884-5. Partially reconstructed in the nineteenth century. The complex consists of a series of enclosures with ditches, pits and corn drying ovens. Three general phases of occupation were found dating to the 1st, late 2nd and early 4th centuries, but occupation was continuous. Remains of a bronze casket and coin hoard consisting of 36 coins dating from 74 BC to around AD 180 or 270 was found, along with burials. Numerous and varied finds were recovered including agricultural and domestic tools.

Sixpenny Handley 19. Possible 'necked' or 'banjo' enclosure, area 0.7ha = Phase II from Hawkes. Pentagonal enclosure, area 0.3ha = Phase III from Hawkes. [Plans of comparable sites]. <7-8>

<1> Austen, J H, 1863, Notes on Some Vestiges of Roman Occupation (Monograph). SDO16660.

<2> Pitt Rivers, A H L F, 1887, Excavations in Cranborne Chase near Rushmore, on the borders of Dorset and Wilts. Vol. 1: excavations in the Romano-British village on Woodcuts Common, and Romano-British antiquities in Rushmore Park (Monograph). SDO18399.

<3> Sumner, H, The Ancient Earthworks of Cranborne Chase (Monograph). SDO16661.

<4> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1963 (Map). SWX1540.

(ST 963181) ROMANO-BRITISH SETTLEMENT ®

<5> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1972, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1971 (Serial). SDO71.

<6> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1975, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume V (East), 68-69 (Monograph). SDO129.

‘(19) IRON AGE AND ROMANO-BRITISH SETTLEMENT on Woodcutts Common (963181), associated with tracks and 'Celtic' fields (Group (83), p. 118), covers about 4 acres and was probably a single farmstead. It lies in the N. of the parish, just under 500 ft. above O.D., on a gentle S.E. slope of the Chalk, here in part covered with Clay-with-flints. The site was dug into by J. H. Austen in 1863 and it was excavated by General PittRivers in 1884–5 (Pitt-Rivers, Excavations I (1887), 7–239; Arch. J., XXIV (1867), 168–9). The data obtained by Pitt-Rivers have been reinterpreted by C. F. C. Hawkes (plans opp. p. 69) in particular to reveal a sequence of development on the site (Arch. J., CIV (1947), 42–8; but see also P.P.S., XXIV (1958), 101–19 and J.R.S., LIV (1964), 62). The present appearance of the site (Plate 63) is due to Pitt-Rivers, who reconstituted much of it to conform with his own discoveries, rather than with its form before excavation.
Before excavation, the visible remains comprised a roughly circular enclosure, about 300 ft. across with a gap at the S.E., defined by a low bank with an external ditch, together some 16 ft. across. Inside the enclosure was a mound 20 ft. across and 2 ft. high, also two roughly rectangular depressions in the N. part and two circular hollows in the S. part. Outside the ditch to the S.W., a slight ditch and bank enclosed a triangle with sides of about 100 ft. Two trackways, each about 20 ft. wide and flanked by slight ditches and outer banks, ran towards the main enclosure from N.W. and S.E. Beyond them on the E. side were two other enclosures, a quadrilateral 150 ft. by 100 ft. on the E. and a triangle 170 ft. by 100 ft. on the S.E., both defined by low banks. To the N. of the E. enclosure was a slight E.–W. bank and ditch and an isolated mound 22 ft. across and 1 ft. high. The S.E. trackway could be traced for 385 ft., as far as a semicircular embanked depression 93 ft. to 130 ft. across, known as Church Barrow, and beyond it for a further 400 ft. Short lengths of ditch branched N.E. and S.W. for 50 ft. from the trackway ditches, 180 ft. N.W. of Church Barrow. The N.W. trackway could be followed for some 300 ft.
In 1863 J. H. Austen dug into the N.W. mound, the E. depression in the main enclosure, and into one of the circular hollows. The excavations of 1884–5 were more thorough. The main enclosure and the two enclosures on the E. were totally excavated and all ditches encountered were followed, including those of the two trackways; the N.W. mound was removed, the N.E. mound and Church Barrow were sectioned, and two wells (represented by the circular hollows) were cleared to depths of 136 ft. and 188 ft. The triangular enclosure to the S.W. was the only principal feature not investigated. On completion of the excavations, the earth cleared from the ditch of the main enclosure was left to heighten the bank.
The excavations showed that the site initially consisted of a roughly circular enclosure, some 300 ft. in diameter, defined by a ditch up to 18 ft. wide and 6 ft. deep (Phase I in accompanying plans). Trackways led into it, and there appear to have been wide gaps on E., W., and N. There was probably a house in the W. part of the interior, and numerous chalk-cut pits, up to 10 ft. across and up to 9 ft. deep, were found. Phase II was characterised by the addition on the W. of a kite-shaped enclosure measuring about 280 ft. by 150 ft., and two smaller enclosures on the E., the southern containing two corn-drying ovens. The mounds outside the enclosures on N.E. and N.W. probably belong to this phase; the north-western was perhaps a barrow, since a cremation in a Roman pot was found near its foot. In phase III, most of the earlier ditches and pits had been filled and the roughly circular enclosure (seen before excavation began) had been added on the W. This enclosure contained a well 4 ft. in diameter and 188 ft. deep, and probably also a building, as indicated by roofing slabs and painted plaster from a wattled wall. The two E. enclosures of phase II were retained, but the more northerly was enlarged to the E. and another, enclosing a corn-drying oven, was added on the N. Church Barrow was erected at this time over the ditches of the S. trackway.
The three phases appear to have begun, respectively, in the early 1st century A.D., the late 2nd century and the early 4th century, but occupation was apparently continuous. Some Iron Age 'B' pottery, a La Tène I brooch, much Durotrigian pottery and four Durotrigian coins were found. The first phase probably continued until about 180, as indicated by samian and coarse pottery and seven coins; most of the 84 brooches apparently also belong to the 1st century A.D. A hoard of 36 coins from 74 B.C. to c. A.D. 180 or 270 (fn. 1) was found, with remains of a bronze-mounted casket, near a hearth in the E. depression. No coins of the first half of the 3rd century were found, but there were 130 coins for the period 253 to 296. Coins and New Forest pottery indicate occupation until c. 360. Finds of bronze and iron were numerous, including rings, pins, tweezers, spoons, harness, knives, ploughshare-tips and other tools. There were spindle whorls, beads, bracelets and handles of shale, as well as lathe-cores and unworked pieces of the same material. Stone objects included whetstones, querns and mortars. Burials of thirteen adults, a child killed by a sword-cut and of twenty-two infants were found in pits, ditches and in a corn-drying oven; scattered human bones, presumably from disturbed burials, were common. Bones of ox, sheep and pig were the most numerous, but remains of horses, dogs, deer and other wild animals and of birds were also identified. In one pit some wheat grains were found, and chestnut was distinguished among more common woods. The finds are in the Pitt-Rivers Museum at Farnham, and in D.C.M.’

<7> Bowen, H C, 1990, The Archaeology of Bokerley Dyke (Monograph). SWX800.

<8> Bowen, H C, 1991, The Archaeology of Bokerley Dyke: Inventory, 29 (Monograph). SDO14864.

<9> Hazell, Z, and Campbell, G, 2018, Analysis of wood charcoal remains from the Pitt Rivers Archive, The Salisbury Museum: Woodcutts Common, Dorset (Unpublished document). SDO16436.

<10> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, Externally held archive: RCH01/091 RCHME Inventory: Dorset V (East) (Unpublished document). SDO18032.

<11> Historic England, Historic England Archive, 1018324 PITT RIVERS COLLECTION (Index). SDO14738.

Report on the excavation of King John's House; notes on a map of Cranbourne Chase; section drawing of Wansdyke; artefact drawings for publication; excavation plans including Rushmore Park, Winklebury Camp & Woodcuts.Contents : SmallCondition : INTACT

<12> Historic England, Historic England Archive, 884197 RCHME: Woodcuts Common, Sixpenny Handley, Dorset (Index). SDO14738.

Ruler photographed on top of drawing

<13> National Record of the Historic Environment, 209777 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Aug 30 2022 11:29AM