Monument record MDO6661 - Cist burial, North Road/Overlands Road, Wyke Regis, Weymouth

The discovery of a cist burial, skeletons and occupation debris may indicate the site of a Roman cemetery. Iron Age pottery and Roman coins were found.

An inhumation burial and occupation debris were found in 1937 in drainage trenches on the housing estate near Camp Road. A cist 4ft by 2ft containing a contracted adult skeleton, a coarse ware jar and a few sherds in the filling were found. The site, Overlands in the local newspaper and North Road in the Dorset County Museum records, was probably on the knoll hearth, shells and many Roman coins are said to have been found during ploughing. A Durotrigian bowl and cup were also mentioned. The bones and vessels are in the Dorset County Museum. <1>

Salvage excavation was undertaken when service trenches disturbed IA and/or RB burials and settlement evidence. <2>

Four disturbed skeletons were discovered in the 1975 salvage excavation at SY 6595 7788, and possibly indicate a 1st century AD date. Since they are 70m from the cist (recorded by Author 1), it may indicate a cemetery. <3>

<1> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 3, 615-616 (Monograph). SDO150.

<1.1> Dorset Echo, 03-JUL-1937 (Serial). SDO18975.

<2> Hunt A M (Compiled by Keen L), 1976, Dorset Archaeology in 1976, 62 (Article in serial). SWX1827.

<3> Dockrill S J, 1981, A Late Iron Age and Romano-British site at Wyke Regis, Dorset, 131-2 (Article in serial). SWX1828.

<4> Bristol and Region Archaeological Services, 1995, An Archaeological Desktop Study of The Site of The Proposed Sewage Treatment Works Wyke Regis, Dorset (Unpublished document). SWX8665.

<5> National Record of the Historic Environment, 451652 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Dec 3 2022 6:50AM