Monument record MDO8001 - Ulwell Saxon cemetery, Swanage

A Saxon inhumation cemetery recorded during excavations at Shepherds Farm, Ulwell in 1949 and 1982. The cemetery comprises fifty-eight graves, many of which were stone-lined ranging from partially stone-lined graves to cist burials lined with split limestone slabs, occasionally with surviving stone lids. Radiocarbon dating from four of the burials give a seventh century date for the cemetery.

SZ 023809. An extended skeleton of a young person was exposed at Ulwell during trenching at the back of a new house called Sheppard's Farm in 1949. The skeleton lay at a depth of 4 feet in a cist of upright limestone slabs. Subsequent examination by J B Calkin led to the discovery, a few feet away, of three similar cists also containing skeletons of juveniles. One of the limestone uprights had a hole near the centre of one side and appeared to be a re-used roofing slab, similar to several found at the Romano-British site at Gallows Gore. A Roman date for the burials appears most probable. <1> Authy 1 report is erroneous. There were only three cists, which were discovered by Miss Bloomfield in whose garden they lay at SZ 02268092. Two of them contained the remains of an adult and the other the remains of a child; all were in a sitting position.No pottery or indications of a mound were discovered. Miss Bloomfield knew nothing of one of the slabs having been a re-used roofing tile and believed the burials to be Bronze Age. <2> Farrar acknowledged the conflict of evidence concerning the cist burials as recorded in the 1949 Proceedings (Authy 1) and the Ordnance Survey archaeological index (Authy 2) but stated that further enquiry has so far failed to determine the facts in dispute. The presence of a re-used Roman roofing tile - although not recollected by the owner (Authy 2) - tended to confirm a Roman date. Farrar added that it was difficult to establish a pre-Roman Iron Age date for any cist burial in the Durotrigian region. <3> An extensive cemetery was found to the north and west of this site in 1982. Although only an iron knife and a late Roman coin were found with the 55 inhumations, it appears to be late-Roman or early-Medieval. <7> Excavations in 1982 located 55 graves, many of which were stone-lined ranging from partially stone-lined graves to cist burials lined with split limestone slabs, occasionally with surviving stone lids. Radiocarbon dating from four of the burials give a seventh century date for the cemetery. <9>

Record last edited

Apr 15 2023 8:12AM