Monument record MDO4564 - Iron Age settlement on Pimperne Down, Pimperne

An Iron Age bank and ditched enclosure, roughly oval in shape, and enclosing an area of approximately 11.5 acres. The monument has been disturbed by later activity such as ploughing and it is crossed by the Stourpaine road, but excavation has shown that there were entrances on the south and east sides, and another entrance on the northern side of the enclosure has been indicated by geophysical survey. The enclosure is visible as cropmarks and earthworks on aerial photographs and lidar imagery and was digitally plotted during the Dorset Middle Stour AIM Project. The record for this monument has been enhanced with support from Wessex Water.

IRON AGE SETTLEMENT (891097), on Pimperne Down, excavated in 1960-3 by I. M. Blake and D. W. Harding, lies about 350 ft. above O.D. on a gentle S.E. slope near the summit of a N.-S. Chalk ridge. The settlement comprises an oval, univallate enclosure of 11 1/2 acres, bisected by the Pimperne-Stourpaine road and for the greater part visible only on air photographs. Until recently the N.E. sector survived unploughed and it was there that excavations were largely concentrated. The excavations indicate early Iron Age occupation, with Second or late First 'A' culture. The bank survived to a height of 1 ft. to 1 1/2 ft. in the N.E. sector. The ditch was initially of shallow 'V' profile, becoming steeper towards a narrow, flat bottom, and reaching a depth of 5 ft. to 6 ft. below present ground level. N. of the entrance the ditch had been refilled shortly after construction, and it had been sealed by a closely-packed flint capping beneath which was found a human femur and the right half of a human skull. Excavation of the S. entrance revealed three post-holes spanning the entrance causeway, one of them of adequate size for a post to sustain a gate. The ditch system of the S. entrance was more complex than that on the E. The main enclosure ditch on the S.W. side of the causeway was intersected by a shallower ditch which led outwards from the camp to a secondary enclosure on the S.E. This 'antenna' ditch was not of defensive proportions and more probably served to guide cattle into the camp from the secondary enclosure. At least three major structural phases were represented. Within the butt end of the main enclosure ditch, adjacent to its intersection with the 'antenna' ditch, were found the semi-articulated remains of part of a horse and the skull of an ox, together with two small rectangular chalk lamps. Taken in conjunction with human remains at the E. entrance, there are grounds for supposing that these were deliberate deposits, chosen with regard to the respective functions of each entrance. Inside the settlement the principal discovery was the remains of a circular timber house. It consisted essentially of two concentric circles of post-holes. The inner circle, 32 ft. in diameter, must have been for the main supports of the roof since there was no central post-hole or group of holes. The outer circle, 42 ft. in diameter, was composed of smaller stake-holes cut not more than 9 ins. into the chalk; it probably retained a wall of woven saplings. A larger and less continuous circle of shallow scoops and irregular holes may have held external supports for the walls and roof rafters. Occupation was clearly in two principal phases, in the second of which the house was completely rebuilt, although the same porched entrance served both phases. A baked clay hearth was located within the house, together with a number of shallow post-holes, the latter probably associated with domestic appliances such as looms or drying racks. Small finds included a bronze finger-ring, two iron arrowheads and several fragments of shale bracelets. Pottery included coarse-ware shouldered jars with finger-tip ornament and some haematite-coated bowls. The occupation of the site should most probably be assigned to the 5th century B.C., but insufficient stratified material was available to supply a satisfactory chronology of the structural phases represented. <2> The enclosure is visible as cropmarks and earthworks on aerial photographs and lidar imagery and was digitally plotted during the Dorset Middle Stour AIM Project [32-36]. The enclosure appears to be formed by a ditch and two banks; it's internal dimensions are 290m by 188m. Outside it's eastern side is a curved multi ditch and banked feature which may be a multivallate annex, or associated with the adjacent field system (MDO4586).

Record last edited

Nov 30 2022 3:32PM