Monument record MWX3428 - Medieval oven, Humpty Dumpty Field, Radipole, Weymouth

In 1986 road widening by Dorset County Council removed a narrow strip of Humpty Dumpty Field, a deserted medieval village. An oven was exposed by this work and subsequently excavated by Laurence Keen and Mark Simons of the DCC Archaeology Service.

Keen, L, 1987, Medieval Oven, Radipole, Weymouth. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 186 (Article in serial). SWX8686.

‘During road-widening by Dorset County Council a narrow strip of 'Humpty-Dumpty Field', the site of the deserted medieval village to the west of Radipole parish church, was removed. At SY 6608140 an oven was revealed by the contractor and excavated by the writer and Mr M. Simons. The whole structure was approximately 2.73 m square. Constructed of stone the northern side was revetted into the natural slope. The southern side, which once contained the flue, survived only in places, and then only for a few courses. The two side walls (east and. west) were 0.5 m thick at their narrowest points, and were a maximum of 0.36 m high with the surviving lower part of the roof of the oven overhanging by about 0.10 m. The oven itself was circular, 1.55 m in diameter. It contained natural soil deriving from the slope to the north, above 0.20 m of burnt daub. Beneath the daub the oven base was uncovered: it consisted of earthenware tiles 0.30 m square. These survived intact on the west side. Where they were missing from the eastern part of the oven, lines of fine ash marked the joins. The tiles were very coarsely made with a high proportion of crushed flint. They were from 350 mm to 400 mm thick and poorly fired. The tiles were set on a base of cobbles. The top of the tiles was 3.938 m above Ordnance Datum. The new wall along the southern edge of tli.e field will cross the northern part of the oven. No dating evidence was retrieved, but the character of the tiles suggests a medieval date.’

Record last edited

Feb 27 2026 3:52PM