Find Spot record MDO639 - Romano-British pottery, iron slag, a child's skull and a bead-rim sherd found at Charlock Hill, Castleton

Finds made in and around the marl pit at ST 61541832 ('A') included Romano-British coarse pottery and some iron slag. A hand-made bead-rim sherd from the pit suggests pre-Roman occupation. <1-4>

This area was under cereal and root crops, at the time of field investigation. No surface finds were made. The marl pit at ST 61541832 remains discernible, but is heavily overgrown with nettles. <5>

<1> Bean, C E, Annotated record map Corr 6", June 1950, May 1954 (Map). SDO16337.

<2> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1950, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1949, 68 (Serial). SDO49.

'Sherborne, Charlock Hill; O.S. 1-in. 6118. Some excavations were carried out in November and December 1949 by senior boys of Sherborne School under the supervision of Mr. J. Fowler, M.A., on the site of a Romano-British settlement at Charlock Hill N.E. of Sherborne. A fuller account is to appear in Mr. Fowler's forthcoming book Medieval Sherborne.'

<3> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1951, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1950, 93 (Serial). SDO50.

'Fields 482, 512 and 513 (O.S. 25-in. Ed. 1903) again display the same character as the other hilltop sites, having Romano-British pottery, traces of burials and, apparently, hutments, but not stone buildings. The scatter of pottery extends over some 200 yards east and west of the above reference.

In addition to the other Charlock Hill sites…, a number of Romano-British finds were made in and around the marl-pit, ST(31)/61541832, a site originally recognised by Mr. J. Fowler. A child's skull seen in section in the N. face of the marl-pit was subsequently excavated by Mr. C. E. Bean, for whose account of this area see above, p. 77. The rabbit-burrowed bank on the E. side of the marl-pit was found by Mr. Jee to be prolific of Romano-British coarse ware and iron slag ; an iron bearing stratum exists at the base of the Yeovil Sands, and such slag, found at several places along the escarpment, may be the product of iron smelting. An apparently hand made bead-rim sherd from the marl-pit site suggests that there may have been pre-Roman occupation here. The native settlement investigated by Mr. Fowler (briefly mentioned in Proceedings, Vol. 71, p. 68) is some hundreds of yards to the N.W.

(Area centred at ST 61441827). Romano British pottery, Samian ware, burnt areas, possible huts, late New Forest pottery, human remains and an arrowhead were found on Charlock Hill. The arrowhead was sited at ST 61581822 ('D').

A number of surface finds of worked flints, Romano-British and Medieval pottery were discovered by N Jee of Marston Magna in
the area of Charlock Hill in 1949-50. Romano-British and Medieval pottery was found at ST 61341840 ('B') and Romano-British pottery at ST 61351817 ('C').'

<4> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1952, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1951, 86 (Serial). SDO51.

<5> Barrett, G, Various, Field Investigators Comments GB, F1 GB 17-AUG-77 (Unpublished document). SDO17369.

<6> National Record of the Historic Environment, 199360 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

May 13 2022 11:06AM