Monument record MDO7151 - Romano-British settlement at Bagwood, Bere Regis

Evidence of Romano-British occupation including wells, pits, floors and other structures indicate a settlement on both sides of the Roman road between Dorchester and Badbury Rings. Coins and other finds suggest that occupation here ranged from the 2nd to 4th centuries.

(Centred SY 851972) Romano-British settlement at Bagwood Close and Coppice which also extends along the Roman Road (4e)
Dorchester-Badbury, was discovered and excavated in 1860 and 1962-66.

A well, supposed to lie some 40 yds. N. of the Roman road (85149714), was excavated in 1860 by William Shipp for the Dorset
antiquary, Charles Warne, to a depth of 60 ft. to 70 ft. without reaching bottom. It was about 8 ft. in diameter and cut in chalk
with the upper 10ft. To 12ft. Revetted with regularly laid blocks of chalk and 'green sandstone' about 1 ft. square. The ashy
filling contained much coarse pottery, some samian, nails and blocks of Kimmeridge shale.

The topsoil of the close W. of the coppice, particularly S. of the line of the Roman road, is noticeably dark, with Romano-British
pottery, some of the 4th century; N. of the coppice there is debris from an ancient flint industry, but pottery is scarce,
and signs of 'Celtic' fields peripheral to Ancient Field Groups (31) and (32) suggest that this area may have been cultivated
during the life of the settlement. In the W. part of the close, on the gentle northerly slope N. of the Roman road, excavations by Mr. G. Toms in 1962-6 revealed traces of an occupation floor (85109712) with clay roof-tiles, mortared flint and chalk, sandstone, daub, fragments of Kimmeridge shale including parts of incised tablets or panels, worked bones used for weaving, and much iron slag and clinker. This occupation, apparently of the mid or later 2nd century, overlay an earlier 2nd-century pit. Isolated postholes, two gullies and several pits were found, one of them, refilled in the late 1st century, possibly for road-metal. A chalk-cut well, 3 1/2 ft. in diameter and at least, 70 ft. deep, contained six coins, the latest of Tetricus I (270-3), large quantities of pottery and daub with plank and wattle impressions, an extensive series of animal remains including bird, rodent and fish bones, and many objects including a Purbeck stone mortar, quern-stones, an ox-goad and a bill-hook. Excavations at the S. side of the Roman road in the N.W. corner of the coppice (85169712) disclosed a gravelled area of the late 3rd or 4th century overlying natural gravel, covered with a layer of cobbles in which were a few isolated post-holes; above this a 2ft. Deposit of burnt occupation debris, including daub and building rubble without roof-tiles, was dated to the 4th century by pottery and a small coin series ending with an issue of 341-6. W. of this point surface finds of the earlier 2nd century to the mid 4th century suggested occupation for at least 300 yds. Along the Roman road, and a trial excavation at 84909700 revealed much 2nd and 3rd-century pottery S. of the road.
Warne's identification of the site with the Ibernio of the Ravenna Cosmography is without foundation (cf. Archaeologia XCIII (1949), 35), nor do any known features connect the site with an official posting-station (mutatio). (Archaeologia XXXIX (1863),
85-92, reprinted in Warne's Ancient Dorset (1872), 201-8; Hutchins I, 147-8; Dorset Procs. LXXXIV (1962), 103-6, 115; LXXXV (1963), 99-100; LXXXVI (1964), 110-2; LXXXVII (1965), 98-9; LXXXVIII (1966), 116-7.) <9>

The well, excavated by Shipp in 1860,was classified as a ritual shaft by both Ross and Green. (The chalk-cut well discovered by
Toms between 1962-66 is not, however included by these authorities and may therefore not be ritual. <8> <10>

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey 25 inch scale map, 1956 (Map). SDO18020.

(SY 85159715) ROMAN WELL (R) (site of) (NAT) (SY 851971) Roman-British Pottery, querns & c, found AD 1860 (NAT)

<2> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1960, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1959, 94 (Serial). SDO59.

<3> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1963, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1962, 103-106 (Serial). SDO62.

<4> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1964, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1963, 99-100 (Serial). SDO63.

<5> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1965, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1964, 110-112 (Serial). SDO64.

<6> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1966, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1965, 98-99 (Serial). SDO65.

<7> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1967, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1966, 116-117 (Serial). SDO66.

<8> Coles and Simpson (eds), 1968, Studies in Ancient Europe : essays presented to Stuart Piggott, 274 (Monograph). SWX2244.

<9> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 3, 594 (Monograph). SDO150.

‘(120) BAGWOOD (SY 89 NW, NE). Floors, Wells, Pits and Occupation Debris have been found about 250 ft. above sea level on Bere Down, in Bagwood Close and Coppice and for some 300 yds. W. of the latter, astride the Roman road between Badbury Rings (Vindocladia?) and Dorchester.
A well, supposed to lie some 40 yds. N. of the Roman Road (86149714), was excavated in 1860 by William Shipp for the Dorset antiquary, Charles Warne, to a depth of 60 ft. to 70 ft. without reaching bottom. It was about 8 ft. in diameter and cut in chalk with the upper 10 ft. to 12 ft. revetted with regularly laid blocks of chalk and ‘green sandstone’ about 1 ft. square. The ashy filling contained much coarse pottery, some samian, nails and blocks of Kimmeridge shale [Footnote: another well, and remains possibly of a religious nature, were found by J. C. Mansel-Pleydell in 1888 in a ‘neighbouring field’ in Winterborne Kingston parish but beyond the area of the present volume. The site is unknown but was within a few hundred yards of the Roman road at Bagwood (Ant. J. XXXIII (1953), 74-5). A lead coffin found in 1858 is recorded by Ordnance Survey about ½ mile to the D. (861971).]
The topsoil of the close W. of the coppice, particularly S. of the line of the Roman road [Footnote: Excavation here in 1966 revealed pits and traces of a chalk floor associated with a slot for a sleeper-beam of a timber building.], is noticeably dark, with Romano-British pottery, some of the 4th century; N. of the coppice there is debris from an ancient flint industry, but pottery is scarce, and signs of ‘Celtic’ fields peripheral to Ancient Field Groups (31) and (32) suggest that this area may have been cultivated during the life of the settlement.
In the W. part of the close, on the gentle northerly slope N. of the Roman road, excavations by Mr. G toms in 1962-6 revealed traces of an occupation floor (85109712) with clay roof-tiles, mortared flint and chalk, sandstone, daub, fragments of Kimmeridge shale including parts of incised tablets or panels, worked bones used for weaving, and much iron slag and clinker. This occupation, apparently of the mid or later 2nd century, overlay an earlier 2nd-century pit. Isolated post-holes, two gullies and several pits were found, one of them, refilled in the late 1st century, possibly for road-metal. A chalk-cut well, 3½ ft. in diameter and at least 70 ft. deep, contained six coins, the latest of Tetricus I (270-3), large quantities of pottery and daub with plank and wattle impressions, an extensive series of animal remains including bird, rodent and fish bones, and many objects including a Purbeck stone mortar, quern-stones, an ox-goad and a bill-hook.
Excavations at the S. side of the Roman road in the N.W. corner of the coppice (85169712) disclosed a gravelled area of the late 3rd or 4th century overlying natural gravel, covered with a layer of cobbles in which were a few isolated post-holes; above this a 2 ft. deposit of burnt occupation debris, including daub and building rubble without roof-tiles, was dated to the 4th century by pottery and a small coin series ending with an issue of 341-6. W. of this point surface finds of the earlier 2nd century to the mid 4th century suggested occupation for at least 300 yds. along the Roman road, and a trial excavation at 84909700 revealed much 2nd and 3rd-century pottery S. of the road.
Warne’s identification of the site with the Ibernio of the Ravenna Cosmography is without foundation (cf. Archaeologica XCIII (1949), 35), nor do any known features connect the site with an official posting-station (mutation). (Archaeologia XXXIX (1863), 85-92, reprinted in Warne’s Ancient Dorset (1872), 201-8; Hutchins I, 147-8; Dorset Procs. LXXXIV (1962), 103-6, 115; LXXXV (1963), 99-100; LXXXVI (1964), 110-2; LXXXVII (1965), 98-9; LXXXVIII (1966), 116-7.)’

<10> Green, M J, 1976, A Corpus of Religious Material from the Civilian Areas of Roman Britain, 202 (Monograph). SDO17755.

<11> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, Externally held archive: RCH01/096 RCHME Inventory: Dorset III (Central) (Unpublished document). SDO17384.

<12> National Record of the Historic Environment, 455715 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Mar 14 2023 2:18PM