Site-index
Mortars
Inscriptions
Roofing
Paving
Architectural
Occupation-sites
Contents of Database
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© Copyright John Palmer.
This is work in progress, last updated 2021-10-07.
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Anchors-
-
- name Chapmans Pool Anchor
- cat REJECT
- site Seabed S of Chapmans Pool and Emmetts Hill, 15m of water
- grid SY 95 76
- source formerly on display in DORCM Victorian Hall N side
- desc Former display card:
Stone anchor of PM, 83.5kg. Isosceles triangular slab,
worn circular rope hole at narrowest point, two square holes about 80mm
square penetrating from one flat side to the other near the two obtuse
angles. Symbol of a cross with two crossbars engraved on each side
[ not easily seen ]. Probably medieval though earlier date possible.
- desc JP: hard to see many gastropod shells; lots of ?sponge-boring, some
encrusting whitish-yellow ?sponge; many inclusions dissolved out of
exposed surfaces. More enquiries are required re material and date
- loc Dorset Museum RD.2498, on display 2021, People's gallery
- subst PL
- date Display 2021: C11--C16 CE
- interp The square holes are thought to have held timbers that would
have protruded on each of the parallel triangular faces of the slab
- comment Very similar to the Yarmouth anchor;
see also Lulworth
anchor (not PM) and a
curious object from Knitson
- comment Accession number fornerly given as 2004.53
Counters-
- name Colliton Park counters
- cat DOUBTFUL (lithology)
- site Library site, Colliton Park, Dorchester, 1961-3
- grid SY 690 908
- source Aitken GM and GN 1982 p.117
- source Durham and Fulford 2014 p.307-311,
drawn fig.183 p.308
- desc Aitkens:
Counters of various Purbeck limestones found in all areas and levels,
only roughly rendered circular and flat,
diameter varying from 32mm to 14mm
- desc Durham and Fulford present details of at least 57 counters,
most of which are described as 'Lias limestone' simply. A few are inscribed.
Also (p.311) eleven Roundels, which are slightly larger discs.
16 counters and 3 roundels are drawn in fig.181 p.308.
2 of the roundels are described as PM, 2 shelly limestone, 2 oolitic,
6 limestone unspecified, one without specified lithology.
- loc DORCM 1937.70
- subst Limestone, exact lithology rather uncertain.
-
- name Greyhound Yard counters
- site Dorchester, Greyhound Yard 1981-4
- grid SY 693 906
- publ Bellamy PS, in
Woodward PJ 1993 p.168-172
- desc Stone counters: chalk and various limestones.
the latter finegrained and oolitic types, prob.`Purbeck Portland', perhaps
between Portesham and Worbarrow.
- subst Ensom: PS probably
- comment Petrological identification by Paul Ensom
- comment See also
Architectural
section.
Loom- (or roof-) weights -
- name Bucknowle loom-weights
- site Bucknowle, Corfe Castle, 1976-1991
- grid SY 954 815
- source Light and Ellis 2009
- desc p.119-120, incl. fig.57: Nine loom-weights, floor of Building 8.
See also ibid. plate 22
- loc DORCM (Light and Ellis 2009 p.7)
- loc DORCM; 2 specimens on display, 2016-02-23 in
archaeology gallery case 29.
One specimen is identified (by its small-find number 654)
as no.4 in fig.57 p.119;
the other is irregular in shape and seems not to be one of those illustrated;
the numbers written upon it seem to indicate that it comes from
a different context from the nine in fig.57
- subst Limestone (assumed local), so PL
- date site period 5A, AD 250-300
- comment Bucknowle mortars may still be at bay 131(L28) shelf D
-
- name Ower net (or thatch) weight
- cat DOUBTFUL
- site Cleavel Point, Ower
- grid SZ 00 86
- source Sunter and Woodward 1987 p.105
- desc Rough-hewn sub-rectangular block of limestone 27cm by 30cm by 7cm
with flat-chiselled upper and lower faces and an oval slot (in part a
result of a natural fissure) worked into a central perforation 10cm by
5cm, from post-Roman agricultural disturbance
- loc DCM ?
- subst limestone
- date uncertain, may be post-Roman
-
-
- name Colliton Park weight
- site Colliton Park, Dorchester, 1937-8
- grid SY 690 908
- source Durham and Fulford 2014
p.317, drawn fig.183 p.315
- desc Durham and Fulford: 105. SF 3070. Cross ditch 3, layer 2.
Weight with a distinct central waist.
Portland freestone. Length 83mm, max. width 62mm.
Drawing, fig.183 p.315.
- loc DORCM 1937.70
- subst PS
- comment Two other weights are recorded from this site, in other sorts
of stone: each has a central perforation rather than a waist.
D and F do not call any of them 'loom-weights'
-
- name Sparsholt loom weight
- site Roman villa, West Wood, Sparsholt, Hants
- grid SU 415 301
- source Winchester museums website, 2010-03-18
- desc Loomweight, found during excavations at the villa.
Originally a roof tile of Purbeck limestone, reshaped
apparently to form a loomweight. 80mm diam, 12mm thick.
- loc Winchester City Museum, WINCM:ARCH 2923.193
- subst PL
- date probably later Roman
- comment see entry in Roofing section
Palettes-
- name Silchester Palettes
- site Silchester
- grid SU 64 62
- publ Boon GC 1957 p.104
- publ Boon GC 1974 p.137
- desc 1973: `Purbeck ... palettes with bevelled edges'
- desc 1974: `Stone palettes for grinding medicaments and rolling pills ...
including some of PM ... A few tiny lumps of realgar or sandarac,
the orange-read crystalline disulphide of arsenic, found in 1895,
should be brought under this heading rather than that of pigments,
though the substance is the artist's red orpiment. No other British
instance is recorded, either of the substance itself, or of its
occurrence in the wall-paintings so far analysed chemically.
Summa ejus dos septica [Pliny NH 34,18 ad fin.]'
- subst PM (some of them).
-
- name Colchester Palette
- site Colchester, North Hill
- grid TL 99 25
- publ Dunnett BRK 1967 p.45
- publ Hull MR 1960
- desc Smashed slab of PM, floor of rm 7, Claudian storehouse.
(footnote p.32) A slab of PM with moulded corners. Shattered in the fire
and could not be restored, size not certain. Frere suggests it was a
palette, of a type known from Verulamium
- subst PM
- comment see Frere's Verulamium palette"
-
-
-
- site London, 7-11 Bishopsgate (MoLAS site ETA89)
- grid TQ 33 81
- source Champion JA 2000
- desc Context 832; Palette; max dim 90 by 45 by 10mm
- loc Museum of London acc 440
- subst Champion: PM
-
- site London, 90-91 and 100 Wood St, St Albans Court (MoLAS site WOO97)
- grid TQ 33 81
- source Champion JA 2000
- desc Context 809; Palette; corner frag, bevelled edge along 2 sides at right-angles, max dim 72 by 21 by 12mm
- loc Museum of London acc 70
- subst Champion: PM
-
- site London, Queen Victoria St 1, National Safe Deposit and Trustee Co Ltd, EC4N 4TN, Walbrook 1873
- grid TQ 33 81
- source Champion JA 2000 table 3
- desc Palette with bevelled edges, length 111mm width 70mm depth 9mm
- loc Museum of London acc 3597; seen by Champion 1999-10-28 on display
- subst Champion: PM
-
- name Verulamium Palette
- site Verulamium, mediaeval layer, Ins. 28
- grid TL 13 07
- source Goodburn and Grew in Frere SS, Verulamium III p.79 and fig.35 no.1
- desc Palette of PM 76 by 66 by 13mm, one end broken and subsequently smoothed, the other 3 sides bevelled. Upper side polished and worn in center, the lower
surface smooth. 57 Y III 2. Mediaeval layer. Ins XXVIII, 1. Above Room 11.
- loc Verulamium Mus?
- subst PM
- date uncertain, but looks of a Roman type
Pestles-
- name Worgret PM Pestle
- site Worgret 1986-7
- grid SY 9125 8690
- publ Hearne CM, Smith RH 1991
esp. p.96, fig.21,3
- desc L-shaped pestle of PM `severely decayed, through chemical etching ...
virtually none of the original surface survives ... similar to
a RB pestle from Colchester'
(Crummy 1983, p.77, fig.80, no.2087).
Length 95mm, head 78mm wide, 30mm thick; associated with
Worgret PM Mortar q.v.
- desc Inspected by JP 2010-03-05: limestone pestle, L-shaped,
between extremities 120mm, longest side 90, next longest 75,
breadth of broadest arm 50.
Bad chemical erosion. Looks rather like BSL in the round,
but photo
consistent with PM.
- loc DORCM 1992.11.18, bay 101 box 66, sitecode W136, site-subdiv D,
sf 25 context 136. 2010-03-05
- subst Hearne and Smith:
Purbeck marble (PM)
- date site period 3, late C1 to C4
- comment Context given as 136, which differs from 168 for the associated
mortar.
-
- name Square and Compass Burr pestle
- site Unknown, presumably Worth Matravers area
- grid SY 97 NE
- source Square and Compass Inn museum
- desc L-shaped pestle, site unknown. Purbeck Burrstone. Long dimension about 100mm.
- loc Square and Compass archaeological collection
- subst Purbeck Burr (BSL) (DB220) (C Newman, JP)
- date uncertain, Roman type
- cont Charlie Newman
-
-
- name Norden Well Pestle
- site Norden near Corfe Castle, 1973
- source DORCM reserve collection
- publ site described in Hughes 1973
and Hughes 1974
- desc Pestle, subconical with rounded base,
height 80mm, diam. at base 45mm, at top 30mm.
Limestone, with a pelmicrite? surface which has flaked off to
show a coarser interior; can't see typical Burr broken shells.
Sketches
- loc Dorset County Museum 1996.37.1/8, site-code TWA1973, bay 86 shelf B;
marked on object and bag NOWL 73, A (in square), 5d (in circle)
- subst JP: may be PL
- date Roman site
- comment See also
Norden Well Burr mortars
-
- name Woodhouse Hill pestle
- site
Woodhouse
Hill, Studland, 1952-8
- grid SZ 0312 8222
- publ Field NH 1965b
p.194 fig.30 no.7, p.196
- desc Field 1965b:
`Pestle. Improvised from a natural formation comprising a ``handle'' of
grey limestone cemented to two flat pieces of calcareous sandstone --- the
whole deriving from three adjacent strata from the Purbeck beds. This
ready-made tool was smoothed by sea-action and the limestone has been bored
by marine worms. The bottom of the pestle is well abraded on its flat
underside. Found in the south of the ``forge and store'' of Cottage `B' (B2).'
[From Figure, object is dumbbell-like, about 4.25in long: JP.]
- loc DCM ?
- subst PL naturally cemented to sandier strata of the Purbeck beds
- date Cottage `B' is 4th cent (by coin of Allectus 293-6AD, sealed)
- comment very odd pestle
-
- name Maiden Castle Burr pestle
- cat pestle
- site field near Maiden Castle
- grid SY 67 88
- source pers. obs. JP
- desc burr-stone pestle
- loc DCM, on display 2000 Oct; unfortunately not photographed then
- subst BSL
- date unknown
- comment It might just be the same as the 'burr-stone' pestle
'from Norden', on display 2015 Dec. in the
redesigned archaeology gallery case 28;
but this looks (from a distance) more like PM
- comment from the substance, not the same as
the following
-
- name Bean's Maiden Castle pestle
- cat pestle
- site Surface find in field North of Maiden Castle, not after 1946
- grid SY 67 88
- source Col. Drew's index
- desc Donated by C. E. Bean, Sherborne.
Pestle of PM, RB. Surface find [as above].
- loc Dorset Museum 1946.411.1,
on display 2021 Sept. in People's gallery, with label "1946.41", in company with
an unrelated mortarium
- subst PM
- date RB (presumed)
- comment from the substance, not the same as the foregoing
-
-
-
-
-
- name Colliton Park pestle 110
- cat pestle
- site Colliton Park, Dorchester, 1937-8
- grid SY 690 908
- source Durham and Fulford 2014
p.317, drawn fig.184 p.316
- desc 110b. SF 1328. Grid 13, Town-house (Building 182).
Probably found associated with a
mortar
in room 18, pit 1, layer 4.
Elbow-shaped, length of long arm 82mm.
Purbeck marble.
- loc DORCM 1937.70
- subst PM
-
-
- name Colliton Park pestle 114
- cat pestle
- site Colliton Park, Dorchester, 1937-8
- grid SY 690 908
- source Durham and Fulford 2014
p.317, drawn fig.184 p.316
- desc 114. SF 1892. Grid 2N, Town-house (Building 182), layer 4.
Tapered pestle with circular cross-section, damaged both ends, length 92mm.
Purbeck marble.
- loc DORCM 1937.70
- subst PM
-
- name Colliton Park pestle 115
- cat pestle
- site Colliton Park, Dorchester, 1937-8
- grid SY 690 908
- source Durham and Fulford 2014
p.317, drawn fig.184 p.316
- desc 115. SF 2260. Grid 22E, layer 2.
Elbow-shaped pestle, damaged both ends, oval section, length of long arm 95mm.
Purbeck marble.
- loc DORCM 1937.70
- subst PM
-
- name Colliton Park pestle 122
- cat pestle
- site Colliton Park, Dorchester, 1937-8
- grid SY 690 908
- source Durham and Fulford 2014
p.317, not illustrated
- desc 122. SF 4402, Grid 116SE, road cut 7, on road surface.
Small elbow-shaped pestle, broken one end, oval section 33mm by 30mm.
Purbeck marble.
- loc DORCM 1937.70
- subst PM
-
- name Colliton Park pestle 136
- cat pestle DOUBTFUL (lithology)
- site Colliton Park, Dorchester, 1937-8
- grid SY 690 908
- source Durham and Fulford 2014
p.319, not illustrated
- desc 136. SF 1652, Grid 12, Town-house (Building 182), layer 4e.
Elbow-shaped pestle, broken one end, circular cross-section.
- loc DORCM 1937.70
- subst 'fine-grained crystalline limestone'
-
-
- name Fishbourne pestles
- site Fishbourne, Neronian builders' yard
- grid SU 84 05
- publ Cunliffe 1971 p.40, pl.ix
- desc
``3,4. Two roughouts for pestles in PM. Both show the primary hammer-and-chisel
dressing but smoothing...not begun. Probably fractured during manufacture.''
- subst PM
-
-
-
- name London Bishopsgate Pestle
- site London, 7-11 Bishopsgate (MoLAS site ETA89)
- grid TQ 33 81
- source Champion JA 2000
- publ Museum of London 1997 p.17
- desc Context 662; Pestle; L-shaped 95 by 92mm, grinding face 45mm diam, from wear seems to have been used for a significant period by a right-handed person;
- loc Museum of London acc 406; seen by Champion 1999-08-24
- subst Champion: PM
- comment Same context as mortar acc 407
-
- site London, Regis House and Ridgeway House, King William St (MoLAS site KWS94)
- grid TQ 33 81
- source Champion JA 2000
- desc Context 3242; Pestle; nearly complete, worn, portion of working face missing, approx dim 119 by 57mm
- loc Museum of London
- subst Champion: PM
-
- name Silchester Pestles
- site Silchester
- grid SU 64 62
- source Beavis p.203
- publ Boon GC 1974;
not p.166 but `rubbers' mentioned p.237
- desc
Pestles 2. Beavis: Well carved and polished in contrast to local stone pestles.
Illus. by Beavis p.190.
- loc Reading Museum
- subst PM
- comment Mentioned in passing in
Dunning's Richborough report.
(The Wroxeter pestle mentioned there is not asserted to be PM.)
-
- name Corbridge Pestles (two)
- site Corbridge, Hadrian's Wall, NOI
- grid NY 99 65
- source G. Plowright, pers. comm. 2001-06-20
- desc CO11314: PM pestle, yellowish-white, knee-shaped, broader
at one end and narrows at the other, worn and damaged;
CO11315: PM pestle, yellowish-white, knee-shaped, one longer arm which
is straight on once side and narrows on the other side, other arm is short
with large circular head
Picture, courtesy Corbridge Museum
- loc Corbridge museum, CO11314 and CO11315, display case 11
- subst Corbridge Mus: PM
- date NOI
- comment see also the Corbridge PM mortars
1,
2
- cont
Georgina Plowright, curator, Corbridge
Polishers, rubbers, whetstones, etc.-
- site Worgret 1986-7
- grid SY 9125 8690
- publ Hearne CM, Smith RH 1991,
A late iron age settlement and black-burnished ware (BB1) production site
at Worgret, near Wareham, Dorset, PDNHAS 113 55-103
esp. p.96, fig.21(4)
- desc Possible burnisher, ``recovered from ashy deposits at the
mouth of kiln 161 ... in a worn condition with a slightly bevelled edge.
Length 114mm, width max.38mm, thickness 13mm.
Context 170, [small finds no.] 73, Period 3''
- subst Hearne and Smith: Purbeck limestone (PL)
- date site period 3, late C1 to C4
- comment see also a fragmentary
mortar of PL from this site
-
- name Brown's Norden Rubbers
- site Norden, Corfe Castle
- grid SY 95 82 approx
- source Thomas C in
Sunter and Woodward 1987 p.37
- desc Rubbers, one of fine-grained limestone and one of
tufaceous burr-stone,
found by PA Brown at Norden
- loc unknown
- subst PL
- date unknown
- comment In spite of what it says at Sunter and Woodward p.37, these are
definitely not nos.19
and 20 in the microfiche part of that report.
- comment The present two items are also listed in the
Tools section
of this database.
-
- site Poundbury, Dorchester
- grid SY 68 91
- publ Green CS 1987 p.103-8
- desc PL flag hone
(fig.74 no.13)
- subst PL
- date from 5th cent. deposits
- comment what's a flag hone?
-
- cat whetstone
- site Woodcuts
- grid ST 963 181
- publ Pitt-Rivers A 1887
p.179 no.11
- desc fragment of whetstone (so described in geological
specialist report)
- subst Woodward HB in Pitt-Rivers loc.cit.: ``fine-grained
fissile limestone, perhaps from Purbeck beds'' [PL ?]
-
- site Portchester Castle
- grid SU 62 05
- publ
Cunliffe BW 1975 p.266
- desc Whetstone, shaped. Blue limestone with some shell.
70 by 20 by 40mm. No. 344, Trench 79, layer 28(831), pit 103
-
- name Lullingstone Rubber
- site Lullingstone, Kent
- grid TQ 53 65
- publ Meates GW 1987 p.59
- desc Rubber of light grey stone, possibly a Purbeck variant.
Suitably heavy for use in a mortar but too heavy for a pottery mortarium.
- date From a C2 level
-
- name New Fresh Wharf hone
- cat DOUBTFUL
- site London, New Fresh Wharf (St Magnus House), 1974-8
- grid TQ 33 81
- source Rhodes M 1986b p.242 illus 15.4
- desc Quartz-calcite microfossiliferous grit
- desc Hone of Kentish rag (or a Purbeck freshwater limestone). Fresh breaks
at both ends and on underside, where lower part broke away along bedding
plane. Upper surface retains slight traces of maker's angular saw(?) marks,
both sides score-marked with central ridges, perhaps little used if at all
- desc p.240 quotes DT Moore: `Kentish Rag is a marine facies in the Wealden
or Lower Greensand, which is distinguishable from some Wealden or Purbeck
freshwater limestones by the presence of the marine mineral glauconite.
A number of hones could not be positively identified as KR because this
mineral was absent in the thin-section, but ... the general similarity of
the majority of these hones ... would indicate that they also are of KR'
- desc from illus. about 25 by 20 by 150mm
- loc Museum of London presumably; NFW 83
- subst Kentish Rag (or a Purbeck freshwater limestone)
- date authors' phase 7 (late C3 to early C4)
-
- name Silchester rubber for pigments
- cat RELATED
- site Silchester
- grid SU 64 62
- source Boon 1974 p.211
- desc `Also in the collection ... a rectangular marble rubber, about
15 by 10cm, with an iron strap-handle on the back, which was used for
grinding and mixing colours on a flat slab'
- loc ?Museum of Reading, or Stratfield Saye?
- subst Boon: `marble'
- comment see also mortar
with ochre contents from Silchester
Querns-
-
-
- cat quern
- site Woodcuts
- grid ST 963 181
- publ Pitt-Rivers 1887
p.179 and (perhaps) p.143 and pl.50 no.4
- desc Pitt-Rivers pl.50 shows two quern fragments, no.3 ``top
view and section of a quern about 2ft diam. found in surface trenching
interior of NW quarter [ higher-status area ]; 21 frags of querns
found [ there ]''; and no.4 ``frag of top stone of a quern ... with
square groove, diam. 2ft 3in, found in surface trenching in interior
of central quarter NE side; 2 other such fragments found [ there ]''.
- subst HB Woodward, Museum of Practical Geology, London,
in Pitt-Rivers 1887 p.179, no.18:
``fragment of a quern of PL with fossil shells (Cyrena)''
- comment No.4 carries a footnote referring to
Buckman J,
On the materials of Roman querns, WAM 9 291,
which however does not refer to PM or to this quern
- comment Woodward ibid. also reports on other specimens
(nos. 6, 7, 9, 11, 12) as from Purbeck beds, of which only one
is recognised as a particular kind of artefact,
no.11, a whetstone.
Likely to be from the nearby
Vale of Wardour Purbeck outcrop
-
- site Oakley Down, Wimborne St Giles, Dorset, Trench IV
- grid SU 03 11
- publ
Brown, Corney and Woodward 1995
- desc Frag of quern (upper), Purbeck burr
- subst PL (Burr)
- date prob. C3-C4 for filling of Trench IV
-
- name Maiden Castle quern
- cat quern
- site Maiden Castle, c.1934
- grid SY 67 88
- source DCM archaeology store
- publ Wheeler 1943 ?fig.115.16
- desc ?Limestone? rotary quern lower stone from Maiden Castle,
Wheeler excav. Complete but in two pieces.
- loc DCM archaeology store, bay 161, acc.no.1939.55
- subst possibly PL
- comment ? see description of Ower quern
-
- name Norden Quern
- site Norden, Corfe Castle, 1968-9
- grid SY 957 827
- source Thomas C in
Sunter and Woodward 1987 p.37ff
and microfiche 7
- desc Thomas: Four fragments of unfinished quern in coarse shelly limestone,
no tool marks. Very slightly smooth surfaces, inside and out. Period 4,
road (c.140)
- loc DCM presumably
- subst PL ? DB220 ?
- date c.140AD (TAQ)
-
- name Miles' Worbarrow quern
- site Worbarrow Bay 1842
- grid SY 87 NE, 88 SE
- publ
Miles WA circa 1842
- desc fragment of ? quern in PM
- desc .. burial at Worbarrow .. ``at some little distance a
piece of PM was discovered which had clearly formed part of a circular
(hollow) stone, probably of a Quern. In the face of the cliff were also
found fragments of pottery of the early RB eras; the Teeth with part of
the Jaw and some of the Leg Bones of a Bullock''
-
- name Wessex Court querns
- site Dorchester, Wessex Court (Charles St), 1989-1990
- grid SY 6935 9045
- source DCM 1996.31.34.2, box 605, file 23
- desc 3 querns, unpublished
- loc DCM acc. 1996.31 (finds: bays 145-149, papers: boxes 591-611, 615)
- subst 2 PL, one Kimmeridge limestone
- date Roman context
-
- cat DOUBTFUL
- site Unknown, presumably in Dorset
- source pers. obs. in DCM reserve collection 2003-04-22
- desc Part of Purbeck Marble quern stone
- loc DCM, reserve coll. bay 157 shelf F, acc.no 1972.139
- subst PM, but not seen
Various-
- name Collyrium stamp RIB 2446.8
- site Colchester (doubtful)
- grid TL 99 25
- source Beavis p.202
- source Warren FC 1944
- publ British Museum 1922 p.34
- publ RIB vol. 2 fasc. 4, Frere and Tomlin 1992, p.50; other references there
- publ EE ix 1338
- publ Boon GC 1983
- publ Jackson R 1990
- desc Beavis, Warren: Oculist's stamp; ``a small stamp used by an oculist of
Camulodunum ... to stamp his remedies''
- desc RIB: `Unknown provenance perhaps Colchester; oculist's stamp of PM
(erroneously described as green steatite by EE) 38 by 37mm, thickness 9-13mm,
acquired at Colchester in or before 1892; drawing by RP Wright 1955';
inscr.(a) L ULP DECIMIN | PENICIL LE `mild ointment' (b) L ULP DECIMINI
DIA | LEPIDOS CROCOD `saffron salve with copper oxide'
[A]D OMNIA VITIA'
- subst PM
-
- name Gloucester Candelabrum
- site Gloucester, New Market Hall site, 1966-7
- grid SO 84 18
- source pers comm Rhodes JF to
Beavis p.202
- publ Hassall M, Rhodes JF 1974
p.79 and pl.Vc Offprint in JP's file, with picture
- desc Beavis: Candelabrum foot.
Rectangular with lion's paw projecting from one external corner
- desc Hassall and Rhodes: ... rectangular moulded base with animal
feet at the four corners and a socket in the top surface for the end of the
shaft. The base originally measured 28 by 28cm [overall] by 10cm high ...
the socket hole ... 9cm square by 5cm deep.
In general form it resembles the lower part of the
bronze table-lamp stand from Flixborough,
Lincs. (illustrated in Richmond 1947),
which has been assigned to the 2nd cent. AD
- loc Gloucester Museum A.8436
- subst Hassall and Rhodes: PM
- date Apparently unstratified. Roman military occupation from
after 64 till at least 78, civil then till C4.
- comment Hassall and Rhodes:
For another stone British candelabrum see
Richmond 1946 [fragment 2ft 8in
high, total column est. 13-16ft; surviving frag is a part of the shaft,
and consists chiefly of a basket with two climbing figures, one of which
is complete and the other missing; sandstone]
- cont Rhodes JF, Deputy Curator (c.1969)
- cont
Sue Byrne May 2001
-
-
- name Wroxeter Bead
- site Wroxeter
- grid SJ 57 08
- source Cameron Moffett 2013-05-20
- desc Purbeck marble bead, recorded in catalogue of museum
- loc Wroxeter museum
- subst information awaited
- date information awaited
- cont Cameron Moffett 2013-05-20
-
- site Hod Hill 1951-8
- grid ST 85 13
- publ
Richmond IA 1968 p.136
- desc (by Ellis SE of BM Nat Hist, Mineralogy): Limestone
and shale of Rhaetic or Purbeck type. Large cream-coloured frags forming
part of a circular object [footnote: a flywheel] more or less fissile
parallel to bedding, with smaller frags of a softer, distinctly shaly, rock.
Similar rocks occur in the Rhaetic formation, the nearest outcrop [being]
25mi WNW nr Somerton, where similar limestones are known as Langport Beds
(or White Lias). These also occur on the coast E and W of Watchet, about
55mi WNW. Another possible source ... is the Purbeck formation at and S of
Swanage, 23mi SSE''
- desc Flywheel
- subst possibly PL
-
- site London, 5-12 Fenchurch St (MoLAS site FEN83)
- grid TQ 33 81
- source Champion JA 2000
- publ Champion J 2000 p.38-41, 85, fig.13, pl.4
- publ Groves 1984
- publ Skinner 1967
- desc Context 2267; Weight; spherical shape truncated top and bottom, two sunken holes on top, iron-staining and fracture lines in holes, mass 764.2g (about 2 1/2 Roman pounds!); two oval iron-stained sockets on top about 25 by 15 by 18mm deep, 3 depressions at bottom of each hole app. from process of drilling out the holes.
- desc Skinner says this is a typical shape but unusual material (basalt more usual), see Champion J 2000 pl.5, 6
- loc Museum of London acc 314
- subst Champion: PM
-
- name Silchester side-table
- site Silchester
- grid SU 64 62
- source Boon 1974 p.116, 323
- desc Side-table with monolithic top, in PM, with `chip-carved' decoration
along the leading edge. cf. others from C3/C4 west-country villas, e.g.
JRS 52 p.185, fig.29, pl.24(2), West Park.
Probably a monopodium [one-legged table],
cf. rectangular ones from Gaul and Pompeii
- subst Boon: PM
- comment also a similar table in Bath stone mentioned
- comment Boon: `it is hoped that Mr W. Solley of Bristol will shortly
publish his corpus of examples'. This has since appeared as
Solley 1979
(referred to also in
Boon 1981).
- comment this item unfortunately placed here as it is evidently not portable
but built-in
-
- name Bestwall potter's kickwheel
- site Bestwall, Wareham, 1992-2005
- grid SY 94 86 approx.
- source Ladle 2012 p.174
- desc About 1/4 of a PL object retrieved from the flue of Kiln Z227.
Identified as fragment of a potter's kick-wheel with large central hole,
surface unworked, c.320mm diameter, thickness varying 50--65mm.
Cx Z431, sf Z117, p.172 fig.129 no.14.
Cf. similar object from Stibbington, Hunts,
Swan 1984 p.50--51 and fig.4
- loc probably DORCM
- subst PL
- date late Roman
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