Monument record MDO8112 - Human remains found at the Priory, Wareham

Human remains found at the Priory, Wareham in 1962 and 1963 during digging for water-pipes. The burials may belong to the medieval Priory, but could be prehistoric or Roman.

Human remains found at the Priory, Wareham in 1962 and 1963 during digging for water-pipes. A report on the bones was made by Dr I W Cornwall of the institute of archaeology. The bones were found in the small courtyard N of the main building on the site of St Mary's Priory. No associated remains were found. Mrs Greenwood who reported the find believed the heads were to the W. Hutchins reported a cartload of bones that were said to have been found c 1720 just to the N of the 1962-3 findspot. Hutchins wrote that one burial was found between two upright stones and another was in a stone coffin. The absence of associated finds (though not definite) suggests that the remains are connected to the Priory rather than the prehistoric or Roman periods, though Roman pottery has been found in the graveyard of St Mary's Church and a Constantinian coin in the Priory garden. According to Dr Cornwall's report a mandible found may be of the Iron Age and the difference in the state of preservation between the bones may mean a considerable lapse of time between them possibly from anywhere between the Bronze Age up to the Medieval period. (1)

<1> 1964, Human remains found at the Priory, Wareham, p116 (Article in serial). SWX8719.

<1> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1965, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1964, 116 (Serial). SDO64.

Record last edited

Jun 20 2016 4:56PM