Monument record MWX689 - Late Iron Age/Romano-British settlement, Wareham

Roman settlement consisting of a pit or ditch, a well, with finds of pottery, coins, a quern, a mortar, human bones and a possible figurine. An Iron Age pit was found.

Having reviewed the evidence for Roman Wareham at some length, we are left with the impression of a widespread occupation throughout the period, which seems to have been based on some pre-Roman settlement of which tenuous traces have been found recently by the Commission in the N.W. quarter...... No remains of masonry or other substantial buildings have so far been recorded, nor any other features that would justify our according Roman Wareham the status of a small town.

"These finds indicate occupation of relatively humble character, established in Iron Age 'A' and continuing throughout the Roman period, over much of the area within the later walls.

"Wareham: an important and long-lived Romano-British settlement.

Map Diagram

'a' SY 91978747 "Two Iron Age pits about 5 3/4ft in diameter and 5 1/2ft deep were found in the old ground surface under the W. walls in excavations in 1952; they contained Iron Age 'A', 'B', and perhaps 'C' pottery and were overlaid with deposits including burnt material. Similar sherds and much Romano-British pottery, some of the late 4th century, were found in the rampart, derived from the old ground surface". (1)
'b' SY 92048731 ".... Romano-British sherds were found in a like situation (to above) to S. in 1940". (1)
'c' SY 92058748 "At West Walls in 1953 H.G.Burr found traces of occupation probably of the 4th century, and below it part of a clay floor and two post holes. Underneath this floor a pit contained early Romano-British sherds. A complete 4th century jar was found about 1936". (1)
'd' SY 92078749 "Another pit or ditch was found opposite with Iron Age 'C' or early Romano-British pottery and worked shale". (1)
'e' SY 92028751 "... and in 1940 two similar vessels, (to those in 'c') a quern and a stone bowl or mortar, were found nearby at 9 Tinkers Lane". (1)
'f' SY 92028743 "A group of small pots reported from the electricity transformer station adjoining these discoveries may have been Roman or Saxon". (1)
'g' SY 919875 "Numerous Roman coins are reported from gardens inside the N.W. angle of the walls whence came Romano-British sherds in 1947". (1)
'h' SY 92208746 "Two coins of Constantius 2 (324-61) were found about 1935 at the junction of Mill Lane and Cow Lane, and pottery, some certainly Romano-British, had been found in Mill Lane in 1898-9; sherds from here, including Durotrigian ware are in the D.C.M.". (1)
'i' SY 92288749 "Finds made in 1896 on the site of All Saint's Church included samian and glass beads". (1 & 2)
'j' SY 92258778 "In the N.E. quarter the chief find was a Museum, Exeter, from the folly; one was by the Antonine potter Mainacnus. (1)
'k' SY 92328742 "Some 40 coins, probably a hoard were found about 1850 in lowering the hill at the north end of North Street". (1 & 2)
'l' SY 92528746 "... Romano-British sherds have also been found in the garden of 45 East Street". (1)
'm' SY 92588718 "Most of the finds still preserved were made about 1889-90 in the cemetery extension E. of St. Mary's Church. They include Claudian to Antonine samian, much coarse ware, and coins of Augustus (issue of 29-27 B.C.) and Constantine 1 (306-37). Large stones, a well, burnt human bones and charcoal were also found, not necessarily Roman". (1)
'n' SY 92508715 "A coin of Constantine, of A.D. 330-5, comes from the Priory grounds". (1)
'o' SY 92388727 ".... and at 21 South Street were found four coins unusual in that with a worn, probably Constantine issue, were three Persian coins of the 2nd and 3rd centuries A.D.". (1)
'p' SY 92178711 "... sherds and a coin of Constantine 1 from S. of Castle Close". (1)
'q' SY 92008755 Roman bronze and silver coins were unearthed in the gardens known as Cock Pits (2). Cock Pits is the local name for the N.W. area of the walls. The site has been built on and no information was gathered regarding the coins or their location (3)
'r' SY 92298756 Romano-British pottery was found on the site of the Weslyan Chapel. (2) No information was obtained during field investigation to locate the pottery and no mention of pottery is made in the Chapel "Building Record" book. (3) The site is now built over(4)
's' SY 92208732 A first brass coin of Antoninus was discovered in a garden in West Street in 1898. (2) Now in the collection of Mr R.Laws, Westbourne House, Wareham. (4)
't' SY 92608722 Romano-British pottery, quern, and coins found in the cemetery. (2) A collection of pottery was made by the late J.S.Drew of Wareham, and left to the church. It is kept in a loft of Lady St Mary's Church and contains a large quantity of dark grey R.B. ware, some samian sherds and a little Md ware. Some pottery is labelled as from the cemetery, but the greater portion is from unnamed sources in Wareham. (3)
'u' THE TOWN WALLS One piece of black R.B. native ware was found body of rampart (Bloody Bank) and in road making inside the ramparts in 1946-47. Now in Sansom collection in Dorchester Museum. (6)
'v' SY 92218710 R.B. sherds found in an old river bed near an old weir in 1950. (6) The site was pointed out on the ground by Mr. H.J.S. Clark, who stated that the R.B. ware was found at the junction of the walls. The site is now grass covered, the excavation having been filled in (3)

Unlocated Finds
"Finds from unspecified gardens near the E. rampart included 3rd and 4th century coins and a lead statuette of a Negro athlete, lost but of doubtful authenticity. Unprovenanced discoveries include a bronze patera handle, a Purbeck stone mortar, and part of an incised shale plaque". (1)

<1> Farrar, R A H, 1956, Archaeological Fieldwork in Dorset in 1953 and 1954, p82-85 (Article in serial). SWX1317.

<2> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 3 (Monograph). SDO150.

<3> Taylor, C C, 1970, Dorset (1970), p36,46 (Monograph). SWX2984.

<4> National Record of the Historic Environment (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Feb 5 2024 10:35AM