Monument record MDO7484 - Iron Age settlement at Eldon Seat, Encombe, Corfe Castle

Excavations in 1963-4 by Cunliffe revealed an Iron Age settlement consisting of huts, hearths and a small kiln. A lynchet containing Iron Age pottery at the base (and Roman pottery at the top was also recorded). A shale working site was also present.

Eldon Seat Encombe. Huts of Iron Age A and occupation debris from Iron Age A to the Roman period, including waste from shale armlet industries, have been excavated near the Kimmeridge Clay cliffs W of Freshwater Steps, about 250 ft above sea level (939776). Excavations by Cunliffe in 1963-4 uncovered evidence of three huts and associated Iron Age finds. Evidence of hearths and a small kiln was also found. Part of a lynchet crossing the site had Durotrigian sherds towards its base and Roman towards the top. Finds connected with shale industry were made all over the site but other objects suggest normal domestic activities as well. Previous excavations here, including those of about 1936 which are probably wrongly recorded as at 94097748 some 250 yds nearer Freshwater Steps, were thought to indicate the presence of roughly cobbled floors and drystone walls. They produced abundant material like that found in 1963-4 with Romano-British sherds of the 1st or 2nd century and perhaps the early 3rd century. <2-4> <6> <7> There are no physical remains of the settlement, currently under a cereal crop in an area which is ploughed annually. <9>

Record last edited

Dec 7 2022 4:56PM