Monument record MDO6408 - Roman occupation, Witchampton

Part of a Roman tile was recovered from the packing of one of two small postholes from an area adjacent to the builders service trench. The tile may have come from the area excavated in 1924 by H Sumner (RCHM 1975).

<1> Hall, T A, 1988, Witchampton - observations at site adjacent to Witchampton and Crichel Working Men's Club: Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society (Article in serial). SDO13370.

‘A watching brief was carried out during development of the above site, ST 989065, an infill development on an area approximately 60 x 25 m. Observations by N. Field suggested that the site, which was open prior to development, had been settled in the Medieval period. There appeared to be a house platform at the eastern end of the site which fronted onto a disused sunken land, shown as Frog Lane on the 1770 map of the village (DRO Photocopy 1/14). The author’s work on the topography of the village for the Cranborne Chase Village Survey (Hunt and Keen, forthcoming) suggested that Frog Lane had been the main north-south road through the village, the present road being originally a back lane. An aerial photograph taken in the sixties after the watermeadow had been ploughed shows Frog Lane continuing to the north of the village where if forms the backbone of a deserted extension (photograph N. Field). Fieldwalking has produced medieval pottery from the area.

Most of Witchampton lies on the chalk. There is an area of clay and flints at the western edge of the village. Old river systems have led to clay and gravel deposits in certain areas including this site. The subsoil, a light-brown sandy silty clay, contains stones which increase in number with depth to become gravel at about 2 m. The site slopes gently downwards form west to east, with a steeper slope over the most easterly 10 m where it drops down to Frog Lane and the floodplain of the River Allen.

Following topsoil stripping (15-20 cm) a scatter of worked flint was observed in the centre of the site. Several sherds of medieval and post-medieval pottery were found, mostly concentrated in the south-eastern sector. At the western end, the soil was covered by an area of rammed chalk. A test pit dug by the developers had shown this to be a layer 15 cm in depth.

There were four sets of builder’s trenches.
Trench A: The subsoil, which lay at a depth of about 60 cm (after stripping), had been cut into by four small pits of between 40-55 cm in width, to a depth varying between 25-45 cm. All the pits, which had been sectioned fairly cleanly by the building’s JCB, contained Bronze Age Deverel-Rimbury urns. Samples were taken of the pottery and contents of three of the urns which were left in situ. The remains of the four was removed, being somewhat precariously perched on an inside corner of the trench. The urn in pit 3 could be seen to have been inverted.

Trench B revealed an area of burning associated with a large burnt sandstone block, possibly a hearth, in the south-east corner where the house platform was located. The northern part of the trench cut through what appeared to be a sunken floor, 3 m in length. The floor had been cut into the natural (which lay at 70-80 cm below the ground surface) to a depth of 30 cm. The fill contained a fair amount of charcoal and burnt daub flecks along with two sherds of medieval pottery. The builder’s trench was 2 m wide along this edge and no sign of the feature appeared in the opposite face of the trench making it impossible to determine whether the feature was rectangular or circular in plan.

Trench C cut through an area which appeared to have been associated with gravel extraction at some time as it contained several large pits, the fill of which was almost identical to the natural. Trench D cut through the area of rammed chalk. There were no signs of disturbance beneath the chalk.

Two small areas were subsequently examined along the line of the builder’s service trenches. The first contained two small postholes one with packing which consisted of flint and part of a Roman tile. A sherd of medieval pottery was associated with this post-hole. The Roman tile possibly came from the area excavated by H. Sumner in 1924 (RCHM 1975, 110). Two sherds of urn were present in the topsoil. The second area, near the sunken floor in Trench B, had no features but the sub-soil contained fleks of charcoal and burnt daub. Both areas contained sherds of medieval and Romano-British pottery and burnt flint.

Discussion. There is no previous record of Bronze Age activity in the immediate vicinity. It would not be unreasonable to expect the urns to be associated with a barrow, possibly to the north-west, an area that was redeveloped in the seventies. The sunken floor could e associated with the Bronze Age activity, but the medieval pottery near its base might suggest that it was of a later date.

The medieval activity on the site was concentrated in the area beside Frog Lane, which supports its use as the main street in that period. The area of rammed chalk at the western end of the site is a bit of an enigma, but it could possibly have been part of a floor.

The Bronze Age pottery is being conserved before it is examined. The records and finds from the site will be lodged in the Priest’s House Museum, Wimborne Minster.

Thanks are due to Raglan Housing Developments and to Sherrings the builders, for being so accommodating on site. Also to Ann Sims and members of EDAS for helping on site, to the Dorset County Museum for conservation, to Dr A. Woodward for work on the pottery, and to Norman Field for drawing attention to the site.’

<1> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1989, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1988, 142-143 (Serial). SDO88.

Record last edited

Aug 23 2024 4:22PM