Monument record MDO7585 - Furzey Island: Romano-British earthworks

Archaeological survey and excavation demonstrated the presence of an extensive system of enclosures across Furzey Island. Some elements of this system survived as earthworks and others as subsoil features, truncated by landscaping in the 1930s. Finds included late Iron Age pottery, possible 2nd to 3rd century Romano-British BB1, two possible sherds of amphora, evidence for hand worked and lathe turned shale industries (fragments of Kimmeridge shale waste and armlets) and a small quantity of iron waste, possibly residue from smithing (1)

Major double bank and ditch system (surviving partially as an earthwork) of late Iron Age date (c.50BC - 50AD) identified prior to well construction (SZ01308700). Preliminary excavation established that the enclosure ditch survived to a maximum depth of 1950mm below the present ground surface and also identified the location of an entranceway into the enclosure. The projected location of the wellsite coincided with this entranceway. Archaeological deposits observed in this vicinity were thought to be associated with the entranceway. Trial pitting programme further demonstrated that archaeological features survived both in the vicinity of the known earthwork and in the SE corner of the projected well site. The earthwork survey demonstrated that the earthwork itself survived to the greatest extent at its NE corner, where the outer banks and the line of the ditch were all visible at ground level. Elsewhere, the line of the ditch remained generally visible though there was little or no trace of the bank (2)

Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1986, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1985, 157-158 (Serial). SDO85.

<1> Cox, P W, 1985, Excavation and Survey on Furzey Island, Poole Harbour - An interim note. , p157-158 (Article in serial). SWX7356.

<2> Cox, P W, and Hearne, C M, 1988, Wytch Farm Oilfield Development, Wellsite L - Furzey Island, Archaeological Assessment, January 1988. (Unpublished document). SWX8181.

<3> Cotton J, 1993, Dorset Archaeology in 1993: Furzey Island, p161 (Article in serial). SWX8714.

<4> Cox, Peter W (et al), 1988, Excavation and survey on Furzey Island, Poole Harbour, Dorset, 1985, p49-72 (Article in serial). SWX786.

Record last edited

Dec 10 2021 12:24PM