Monument record MDO18427 - Poundbury Middle Iron Age Enclosure

Evidence for a Middle Iron Age enclosure, was discovered during excavations at Poundbury. It comprised two phases of banks and ditches marking the west, south and east sides of a sub-rectangular enclosure with rounded corners. The north side was defined by a steep scarp above the River Frome. These successive boundaries effectively subdivided and re-enforced the western part of an earlier Iron Age ditched enclosure, and in the latest phase served to surround a Middle Iron Age settlement comprising two round houses located near the SW corner of the enclosure.

Found during the excavations directed by Christopher Sparey Green, for the Dorchester Excavation Committee, between 1966 and 1979 during development of the Grove Trading Estate on the eastern slopes of Poundbury Camp, Dorchester (1). The numbers in square brackets below refer to the context and feature numbers used in the published reports (1) (2). A Middle Iron Age enclosure replaced the Early Iron Age enclosure in the northern part of the site on Sites E & F. It comprised a boundary ditch defining the western, southern and eastern sides, although much of the eastern half of the enclosure lay outside the excavated area. The western and southern ditches were along the same line as the Early Bronze Age enclosure. The northern limit of the enclosure was probably formed by the steep scarp running down to the River Frome. Two phases of Middle Iron Age enclosure were identified. The earlier Middle Iron Age enclosure was defined by a substantial ditch forming a sub-rectangular enclosure with rounded corners and straight sides, enclosing an area of 0.13 ha. There was some indication of an internal bank. No causeways or entrances were detected on the south or west sides, suggesting that an entrance may have existed on the unxecavated east side. The ditch was about 2m wide and 1.3m deep with steeply sloping sides and a flat base. At the base of the ditch was a mass of chalk rubble, but most of the fill had been removed by the recutting of the ditches for the later Middle Iron Age enclosure. No datable finds were recovered. No features contemporary with this phase of enclosure have been discovered. The later Middle Iron Age enclosure comprised the recutting of the ditches along the southern and western sides, but the ditch forming the eastern side was dug about 11m further eastwards, increasing the size of the enclosure to about 0.16 ha. Again no entrance was found, suggesting it was in the unexcavated eastern side. The ditches of this phase of the enclosure comprised an almost exact re-cut of the earlier ditches, except on the remodelled eastern side. The profile of the later ditches was broad and rounded, between 2.75-3.0m wide and 1.07m deep. The lower fill mainly consisted of lenses of chalky soil, chalk rubble and flints, with a discontinuous deposit of flint nodules and occupation debris along its centre. Occupation material was only entering the ditch during the silting of the ditch in the 3rd or 4th century BC, contemporary with the earliest houses identified within the enclosure. By the time of the subsequent Late Iron Age Durotrigian settlement and cemetery, the enclosure was levelled, or only survived as a hollow (1).

Record last edited

Aug 3 2010 5:27PM