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  • name Allen, Fulford and Todd 2007
  • cat review
  • site various
  • publ Allen, Fulford and Todd 2007
  • desc Begins with identification of a material from Silchester as burnt Kimmeridgian shale. Then discusses the Purbeck quarry industries in general, including Kimmeridge cementstone (Allen and Fulford 2004), Kimmeridge shale (blackstone), and salt. Includes a map of southern and central Britain on which are plotted 45 findspots of `Purbeck marble' objects of Roman date. Does not discuss other Purbeck limestone at all (oddly enough). Names are given for only five of the findspots (Exeter, Dorchester, Silchester, London, Caerleon), but many more can be confidently identified by their position.
    
  • desc A. Sites confidently identified, with PM finds in this database:
    1. Exeter: architectural, mortar, statuary, unclassified fragments, labrum
    2. Maiden Castle: mortar
    3. Dorchester: architectural, inscription, mortars, tesserae
    5. Milbourne St Andrew: mortar
    6. Winterbourne Kingston: mortar
    7. Worgret: mortar, pestle
    8. Norden: architectural, mortars, uninscribed altars
    9. Brading: mortar
    10. Fishbourne: architectural, mortar, paving, pestles, basins
    11. Chichester: inscriptions, pestle
    12. Canterbury: architectural
    13. Richborough: architectural, mortars
    14. Rockbourne: mortar, dish and bowl
    21. Silchester: architectural, inscriptions, paving, pestles, shower basin
    23. London: architectural, inscriptions, mortars, various portable objects
    24. Caerleon: architectural, inscription, mortar, unclassified fragment, labrum
    26. Woodchester, architectural
    27. Gloucester: architectural, mortar, candelabrum, unclassified fragments
    28. Cirencester: architectural, inscriptions
    29. Shakenoak, Oxon.: architectural, pestle
    31. Gadebridge: architectural, basin fragment
    32. Verulamium: architectural, inscriptions, mortar, paving, palette, unclassified fragments
    34. Rivenhall: architectural
    37. Colchester: architectural, inscriptions, mortars, pestle, palette, building material
    40. Baldock: mortars
    43. Lincoln: architectural, inscription
    44. Chester: inscription
    
  • desc B. Sites confidently identified, with PL finds only in this database:
    19. Winchester: roofing
    45. Catterick: mortar
    
  • desc C. Sites confidently identified, with no known PM or PL finds in this database:
    16. Bath, ST 75 65
    22. Reading, SU 70 70
    33. Chelmsford, TL 70 07
    36. Little Oakley near Harwich, TM 222 292
    
  • desc D. Sites not yet confidently identified:
    4. apparently near Puddletown, about SY 76 94, but not Basan Hill
    15. ? Charlton, near Wells, Som. about ST 60 45
    17. near Westbury, about ST 85 50: unconfirmed PM mortar
    18. possibly Netheravon, SU 148 482, where there are stone roof tiles possibly PL
    20. ? Crondall, about SU 75 45
    25. ? Kingscote, ST 80 95 or Frocester, SO 78 02
    30. ? Stonesfield SP 40 17 (or Ditchley SP 39 20 or Callow Hill SP 40 19). No PL in Stonesfield note 1894 or Ditchley report 1936
    35. ? Brightlingsea TM 059 187 or Alresford (Essex) TM 061 199 (no PL mentioned in articles, A, B)
    38. ? Braintree, TL 756 231
    39. ? Great Dunmow, TL 628 229
    41. ? Ringstead (Northants), SP 974 740
    42. ? Brixworth, SP 7466 7188
    
  • cont Prof. Michael Fulford
•  
  • name Min. of Works (Dunning) map
  • site various
  • source Beavis p.200-201
  • publ Map in Dorset County Museum
  • desc Photograph of a map, entitled "Purbeck Marble in Roman Britain": shows sites that have yielded (a) inscriptions, (b) mortaria, (c) building materials.
    On the back of the photograph, impression of a rubber stamp, reading "Ministry of Works / Photograph no. [Y381/1] / Date taken [-.7.52] / Crown copyright reserved / This photograph nust not be / reproduced or used for advertising / without written permission"; the parts in [ ] are handwritten. Also handwritten, at right angles to the above, "A D Hallam" crossed out, with above it "H S L Dewar".
  • desc Beavis' enquiries led to the conclusion that this was prepared in 1948 by the Ministry of Works in connection with Dunning's researches. It does not, however, appear in Dunning 1949, nor in the 1960 reprint of that article.
  • desc Indicates mortaria at these sites.
    Where a corresponding PM mortar has been identified:
    Corbridge (PM);
    Caerleon (PM);
    Verulamium (PM);
    Colchester (PM);
    Rockbourne (PM);
    London (PM);
    Maiden Castle (PM);
    Dorchester (PM);
    Carisbrooke (PM);
    Brading, IW (PM);
    Silchester (PM);
    Wroxeter (PM) (also mentioned by Dunning in Cunliffe 1968, Richborough).
    Where only a mortar of other Purbeck limestone has been identified:
    Lullingstone, Kent (PL);
    Woodcuts (PL);
    Rotherley (PL);
    Arish Mell (PL);
    Southwell, Portland (PL)).
    Where no mortar has yet been found to correspond to the claim in the map:
    Caerwent (untraced);
    Darenth, Kent (untraced);
    Westbury (untraced);
    Sherborne (untraced);
    Worth Matravers (untraced) (unless one of the Square and Compass mortars);
    Langton Matravers (untraced);
  • desc Indicates building materials of PM at:
    Chester;
    Lincoln;
    Wroxeter;
    Caerleon;
    Caerwent;
    Corinium;
    -Beckley, Northants;
    Saunderton, Bucks;
    Verulamium (1);
    Park Street, Herts;
    Lockleys, Herts;
    Colchester (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8);
    -Bradwell, Essex;
    Silchester (1, 2, 3, 4, 5);
    -Darenth, Kent;
    Ashtead, Surrey;
    -Lullingstone, Kent: (Lullingstone rubber); (see also Meates 1987 and Arch Cantiana -43 (1950), -45 (1952), -66 (1953), -72 (1958), -RB in 1958, JRS 49 132-3);
    Canterbury (1), (2);
    Richborough (1) (2);
    Angmering, W. Sussex;
    Langton Matravers.
  • desc Indicates inscriptions at
    Chester, RIB 463;
    Caerleon, RIB 385;
    Corinium (RIB 113, RIB 114, St Michael's Field);
    Verulamium (RIB 222, RIB 224, RIB 224, RIB 227, RIB 228, RIB 229, the Agricola inscription);
    Colchester (RIB 193, RIB 202, RIB 203, RIB 204, RIB 205, RIB 207, RIB 208, RIB 210, BalkerneGraffito);
    Silchester (RIB 69-71 (which Boon dates to 3rd century), RIB 72, RIB 73, RIB 74, RIB 75, RIB 76, RIB 77, RIB 78, RIB 79, RIB 84, RIB 85);
    London (RIB 15, RIB 18, RIB 27, RIB 32, Hugginhill Fragment 1, Hugginhill Fragment 2, Hugginhill Fragment 3, Hooper St Fragment);
    Dorchester (RIB 188);
    Chichester (Cogidubnus stone RIB 91, RIB 92, RIB 96, RIB 113, 1974 fragment, Arkarius fragments).
  • loc in DCM, boxfile Dorset Places Purbeck 3, no.40. Second copy in DCM, archaeology reserve collection, archive box 128.1 (Norman Field's papers)
  • comment Quite clearly many of the items (certainly of the mortars) on this map are not actually PM as the title of the map indicates. Several are other PL.
  • comment Probable that final manufacture was usually done near the site of erection and the stuff was shipped as rough blocks; see for instance Fishbourne site.
•  
  • name Dunning's 1949 paper
  • site various
  • publ Dunning GC 1949
  • desc Review of Roman use of Purbeck marble
  • desc Wilkswood Farm, quarry
  • desc Gallows Gore, quarry
  • desc Colchester, discarded fragments, dated 50-61
  • desc Park Street, fragments dated 50-80
  • desc Chichester, Cogidubnus stone not later than early Flavian
  • desc "Inscriptions at Dorchester, Silchester, Corinium, Verulamium, London are dated by style of lettering to late C1" [?]
  • desc "Inscriptions or broken building material at Caerwent *, Silchester, Verulamium, Lockleys, Lincoln: (pilasters, veneering, cornices, and part of a column), all débris of older structures, in deposits not later than mid-C2"
  • desc "Not a single mortar [sc. of PM] is known after 150AD [sic] ... industry revived [c.350] ... output limited to small mortars of PM and Burr; one at Caerwent ** (but publs cited there don't mention this object); rest within 40 miles of Purbeck" [?]
  • desc "In C1/2, over 80 per cent. of sites were between 50 and 200 miles from Purbeck, and PM reached 12 towns, 2 forts, 7 villas and 2 other sites; In C4, it is found in 2 towns, 1 villa and 6 other sites including 2 downland villages"
  • desc "Purbeck beds also found in W Kent and E Sussex, mostly at depth, but between Heathfield and Mountfield in the Weald the strata form an outcrop which is narrow and discontinuous. The Beds contain limestones at two horizons, one greenish-grey and one blue; `bell pits' were sunk to a depth of 50ft [but no evidence for this in Roman times, see below]. Sussex marble resembles PM except that it also [sic] contains the shells of Viviparus fluviorum, and some of the floor-slabs and opus sectile found at Angmering and Canterbury are identified as Sussex or Wealden marble. Direct evidence is lacking that Sussex marble was quarried in the Heathfield-Mountfield area in the Roman period, though possibly it was obtained from beds [near] Battle in association with iron ores". [But see comment below, JP]
  • desc "working of Sussex marble in Roman period [was] small-scale, limited to floor-slabs and shaped pieces not more than 1ft across, and local in distribution along the Sussex coast and in Kent. The industry was quite subsidiary to that in Purbeck"
  • comment The Heathfield-Mountfield outcrop is in fact of true Purbeck Limestone, and cannot yield Sussex Marble (Wealden beds, V. fluviorum): see relevant entry in Quarries section and Arkell 1933
  • comment Items mentioned by Dunning and marked * above have only been associated with finds not known in 1949; items marked ** have yet to be identified in the literature.
  • comment Offprint in my file (from 1949 printing)
  • comment This is a summary of a lecture to Soc Antiq, Thurs 18 Nov 1948: 1948, Antiq J 29 135
•  
  • name Pitt-Rivers' PL mortars
  • site various
  • source Beavis p.199
  • source Drew CD 1930
  • publ Pitt-Rivers A 1887, Excavations on Cranborne Chase vol.1, (Woodcuts) and Pitt-Rivers A 1888, Excavations on Cranborne Chase vol.2, (Rotherley)
  • desc PL mortaria
•  
  • name Warren's notes of 1944
  • cat review
  • site various
  • publ Warren FC 1944
  • desc ``PM: Notes on its use in Mediaeval and Roman times''
  • desc Notes by FC Warren 1944, headed ``Early and interesting examples of the use of PM'', refers to items (1) (2) (3) (4)
  • loc DCM, under Industries, stone, no.6 (June 2000)
•  
  • name Liversidge in Rivet 1969
  • cat review
  • site various
  • desc Joan Liversidge in Rivet (1969) describes the following fragments of `English or foreign marble' as occurring in villas in Britain: (1) (2). The subject of her chapter is interior decoration and furniture and the items described are decorative in intent. Since true (metamorphic) marble does not occur in Britain, `British marble' is likely to mean the Purbeck product. Unfortunately her chapter does not always make clear what sort or origin of marble was found at each site.
•  
  • name Williams on Purbeck roofing
  • cat review
  • site various
  • publ Williams 1971 fig.8 (map)
  • desc "a distribution that does not go north of Wilts or east of Hants is supported for Purbeck roofing material." (See now our Roofing section.)
  • comment Presumably this is normally in the form of lozenge-shaped tiles, usually with one nail-hole.
  • comment Many of the site-reports cited by Williams make vague references to the building-stone which do not clearly identify its place of origin; often this was of minor interest to the excavators. There are thus many sites in Williams which contain 'limestone' or some such material which might repay further investigation by turning out to be of Purbeck origin.
•  
  • name Williams on Purbeck and Portland stone
  • cat review
  • site various
  • publ (Williams 1971 p.179, citing WAM lviii (1963) p326).
  • desc `Portland stone' may of course be of Purbeck origin rather than from Portland itself; it also outcrops at Tisbury, Wilts.
  • desc Arkell WJ 1933 lists these outcrops: Portland Beds: Purbeck, Portland, N of Weymouth (Dorset Ridgeway), Vale of Wardour (Wilts) (includes Tisbury), Vale of Pewsey (Wilts), Swindon, Bourton (Berks), Oxon/Bucks (Nuneham Courtenay-Thame-Aylesbury), and extensively under Kent but known from boreholes only. Purbeck Beds: Purbeck, Portland, N of Weymouth, Vale of Wardour, Swindon, Oxon/Bucks, and Kent/Sussex (N. of Battle, several workings).
  • comment The Portland building stones of the Tisbury area (Vale of Wardour) correlate with the upper Portland Sands of Portland, which become glauconitic to the north (Arkell 1933 p.502)
•  
  • name Clare Thomas stone report
  • cat review
  • site various
  • source Thomas in Sunter and Woodward 1987 p.390/li>
  • desc Thomas: [Besides the Norden ones] about 30 other mortars of PL other than PM are known, in fine-grained and tufaceous (Burr) limestone and Broken Shell limestone (presumably Clements' DB220 is meant). Their distribution is mostly in Dorset, W Hants and S Wilts, e.g.
    Maiden Castle (Wheeler 1943),
    Woodyates (Pitt-Rivers 1892 p.150),
    Woodcuts (id. 1887),
    Rotherley (id. 1888),
    Poundbury (DCM) (Sparey Green 1987);
    also further afield at
    Sketchley, Leics (Jewry Wall Museum) (now thought not to be Purbeck: JP),
    London (Baily 1851),
    Lullingstone Meates GW 1987 p.59,
    Orpington (where only Greensand mortars have been traced: JP),
    Caerwent (still to be traced: JP),
    Aldborough (Yorks), (still to be traced: JP),
    Richborough (1) (2) (but both of these are PM, not other PL: JP).
  • desc Thomas: Burr limestone originated as tree-boles (Arkell 1947, p.125-6, 143-7);
    (but this refers to the lower Purbeck Burrs, as found at Fossil Forest, Lulworth, not to the upper Purbeck stone that is also called "Burr" or Broken Shell Limestone, Clements DB220: JP)
  • desc Thomas: Production [of PL mortars at Norden] in early C2 and late C3, contrary to Dunning's dating (1949 and in Cunliffe 1968 p.110-114) of the industry to C1 and early C2, and late C4. "[Against this] Beavis quoted the evidence from Norden, then only tentatively dated, and a 3rd cent inscr. from Silchester; the Norden material is now positively dated, and [now we have] slabs of 3rd and 4th cent. date from Verulamium and a pilaster possibly of 4th cent. date from Pound Lane, Caerwent (Thomas in Dunning and Evans forthcoming)"
  • desc Thomas: Use of Purbeck stone for building purposes was mainly confined to Dorset and West Hants.
  • comment Don't forget the Tisbury and Sussex (Battle) quarries
  • comment Thomas C, Trade and industry in the Isle of Purbeck, Dorset, in the Iron Age and Roman period, said in 1987 to be forthcoming, was to have included a re-examination of all PL mortars; but according to a pers. comm. from C Thomas, c.2001 it was not completed.
•  
  • name Dunning's Richborough report
  • cat review
  • site Richborough
  • grid TR 32 60
  • source Thomas C in Sunter and Woodward 1987
  • publ Dunning GC, The Stone Mortars, in Cunliffe BW 1968, Fifth Richborough Report p110-114
  • desc 2 PM mortars (1) (2) and 9 of other stone (no PL or Portland) described.
  • desc Other PM fragments also described.
  • desc D. also asserts that earlier mortars (sc. C1-2) have a curved profile like Richborough 898 while later ones (sc. C4) are small and straight-sided like one from Maiden Castle.
•  
  • cat review
  • site various
  • publ Applebaum S, in Finberg HPR ed. The agrarian history of England and Wales, I ii has remarks on the reduction of distribution of PM between the early Roman period and late C4
•  
  • cat review
  • site various
  • publ Leach R 1978
  • desc mediaeval PM: Only examples of Purbeck marble outside England and Wales (in mediaeval period) are Normandy and Dublin, both under English influence at the time (Leach p. 3 n. 9). Distribution maps in Leach: Architectural, parish churches, none NW of Severn-Wash line, missing also from Cornwall; Architectural, monastic and secular, similar but one in Furness and several in Northumberland; odd instances also in S.Wales, Worcs? and Cheshire; Effigies: not NW of Severn-Humber, one in Cornwall, plenty inland; Tombs: not NW of Severn-Humber save on in S Wales; great concetration in Dorset; Fonts: none NW of Severn-Wash, some in Cornwall, many in E.Anglia.
•  
  • cat review
  • site various
  • publ Dru Drury G 1948
  • publ See VCH Dorset vol.2 p.331, Hutchins, History of Dorset vol.1 p.466ff
  • desc Mediaeval surface quarries visible at Wilkswood; Quarr; Dunshay (the drive winds through the old workings); Woodyhyde (used 1842 for restoration of the Temple Church, London) (see also Haysom 1998: JP) Scoles; Afflington; Blashenwell (used 1850 for Kingston church) (1874-1880, surely: JP)
  • desc Marble from western end, eg part of a font base used in the pavement of a cottage garden at Tyneham, appears to be of a bluer colour than that further east and to contain a higher proportion of large shells
  • desc See PDNHAS 50 47 for mediaeval stone-moving road to Corfe. At Corfe the bankers and masons' yards were in West St. Rough working was done in Corfe, final finishing on site, see contract for the tomb of Richard Beauchamp Earl of Warwick 13 June 1454. Ower Quay was the principal shipping point. Some went inland and to the continent
  • desc Mediaeval PM examples: Winchester Cath: retrochoir; Beaufort chantry; Godfrey de Lucy's tomb slab; Rufus/Blois tomb in middle of choir. St Cross Winchester: heart burial slab of Ela daughter of Sir John de ?? in Lombardic letters and Norman French. Winchester Castle: tall PM columns supporting roof of Hall.
•  
  • name Blagg Corpus
  • site Britain
  • source Blagg TFC 1984
  • desc Corpus of Roman architecture in Britain
  • loc University of Kent at Canterbury
•  
  • name 'Jurassic Geology of Dorset'
  • site Dorset
  • publ Callomon and Cope 1995
  • desc Various interesting remarks:
    p.97: Portland freestone in Purbeck is thinner-bedded and closer-jointed than in Portland itself
    top member of the Freestone in Purbeck is the Shrimp Bed; ditto in Portland the Roach
    lower beds of Cherty Series in Purbeck correlate with the Portland Clay below the Basal Shell Bed in Purbeck
    J-K boundary is lower than Casey proposed; somewhere about the Cypris Freestones of the Lower Purbeck. Thus the names `Lulworth and Durlston Formation' are no longer appropriate since the J-K boundary is not at the Cinder Bed
    Broken Beds: breakage either due to dissolution of halite evaporites or to tectonic movement (West). Well seen both sides of Lulworth Cove
    Lower Building Stones still being worked 1995
    Broken Shell Limestone: fragments of molluscs suggest low salinity
    Lenticularlimestones in Upper Cypris Clays also used as PM
    pieces of PM can be picked up at Worbarrow Tout
•  
  • site Britain
  • publ Johnson P 1982
  • desc p.10: `Purbeck marble ... used for red, orange, blue and green [tesserae]
  • desc Diocletian's price edict: Wallpainters paid three times as much as mosaicists
•  
  • name Pritchard's Museum of London study
  • site London
  • publ Pritchard FA 1986
  • desc Summary in Architectural section, please follow the reference above
•  
  • name Champion's Museum of London study
  • site London
  • publ Champion JA 2000
  • desc Summary and Items in Architectural section, please follow the reference above
•  
  • name Grew's Museum of London mortars
  • site London
  • publ Francis Grew, pers. comm.
  • desc Summary and Items in Mortaria section, please follow the reference above
•  
  • name Williams' 2002 review
  • cat review
  • site various
  • publ Williams DF 2002
  • desc Selections:
    `Other hard fossil limestones that could be polished were worked to a lesser extent during the Roman and mediaeval periods. They include `Sussex marble' ... a greyish-brown, coarse fossiliferous limestone from Alwalton, Northants .. and the Carboniferous limestone from Frosterley, Co. Durham ... Clifton-Taylor 1989 gives a full list of English polishable limestones'
    `Imported marbles ... were used more sparingly than on the continent'
    `Purbeck marble ... was ... regarded as a marble by the Romans [see RIB 193]'
    `field "geologists" certainly existed in the Roman world as attested by an inscription in the eastern desert of Egypt referring to C Cominius Leugas as the discoverer of several types of rock in the area (Peacock and Maxfield 1999). To the Roman ... PM may have appeared similar to a range of shelly limestones already ... used around the Mediterranean [including] various `lumachellas' (Gnoli 1988)'
    `PM was ... used by Roman mosaicists to represent `green' (Neal 1981, Wilkinson 2000)'
    `PM ... at Colchester ... mid-1st cent AD ... Lion Walk [and] Balkerne Lane (Crummy P 1984)
    The red mudstone at Fishbourne mentioned in Cunliffe 1971 is probably burnt Kimmeridge mudstone resulting from spontaneous combustion at Kimmeridge
    `A recent review of the Fishbourne marble ... has quantified the PM recovered, showing that ... it is by far the commonest marble on the site (Peacock and Williams 1995 table 2, and table 4.1 [of the present publication]' (abstracted here:
    Colchester: PM 182 pieces, other marbles 689
    Fishbourne: PM 630, other 140
    London: PM 71, other 64
    Canterbury: PM `large quantity', other 25
    Lincoln: PM 1, other 30)
    Reconstruction of Claudius' temple at Colchester in early C4 may have re-used PM from earlier buildings (Drury 1984 p.31-5) `but the sheer quantities suggest that the [quarries] were still active'
•  
  • name Victoria History of Wiltshire
  • cat review
  • site Wiltshire, Swindon and Vale of Wardour
  • source Cunliffe in VCH Wilts 1.2 p.450
  • desc `In the N the Portland and Purbeck ... of ... Swindon were probably quarried throughout most of the Roman period for neighbouring urban and rural buildings.' [Bath stone, Malmstone (Upper Greensand) also used] `Purbeck limestone from the Isle of Purbeck was being imported for roofing slabs ... same areas providing, in a ready-made form, Purbeck Marble mortars'
•  
  • name Highest Astronomical Tide
  • cat review
  • site Various
  • publ Waddelove and Waddelove 1990
  • desc Sets the principle that building must normally be above Highest Astronomical Tide (HAT) (that shown in tide-tables). This is attained in general every 19 years and approached within 0.2m about every 4 years. A safety-margin above this is assumed, of 1.8m for buildings on open coasts, 0.4m for floors of buildings on riversides, 1m for quays, 0.3m for roads. HAT + safety-margin = minimum occupation level (MOL).
    The following rises have been calculated:
    Fenland, 4.22-4.52m since (Roman period)
    London, 4.1m since AD 50, 3.9m since AD 70, 3.7m since AD 95
    Medway, 3.7m since about AD 100
    Dover, 3.93m since about AD 50, 2.79m since about AD 100, 2.23m since about AD 200
    Scillies, 4.73m since about AD 0
    Caerleon, 3.66m since AD 74, 2.23m since before AD 290
    Chester, 3.68m since (about AD 80)
    Wirral, 3.66-4.65m since (Roman period)
    Mersey, 3.89-4.52m since ?Roman times (timber bridge uncovered AD 1850 and supposed to be Roman, now lost)
  • interp Sea level around much of Britain has risen since Roman times and was rising relatively fast in Roman times.
  • comment This hasn't prevented certain inlets that were water in Roman times from filling up, for instance Wensum (Richborough), Pevensey, Wash. For Poole Harbour see Brownsea Island site.

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