Site-index
Mortars
Inscriptions
Roofing
Paving
Architectural
Occupation-sites
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The author's page
Items not otherwise classified, including unspecialised building
material.
© Copyright John Palmer.
This is work in progress, last updated 2016-03-07.
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In Purbeck-
- name Square and Compass turned objects
- cat DOUBTFUL
- site Worth Matravers site Q
- grid SY 97 NE
- source Square and Compass Inn museum
- desc
Miscellaneous objects; one a turned baluster, no catalogue number visible
on the white patch; other flattened on one side (towards us in the picture),
marked SF. Both have pits in the end which may indicate turning.
- desc Photo by JP:
2005-10.20,
- loc Square and Compass archaeological collection
- subst PL
- comment site has yielded much Roman material but the marks of turning are
remarkably little worn down.
- cont Charlie Newman
-
- name Kingston possible floor
- site Kingston Barn, Corfe Castle
- grid SY 9620 7882
- publ Farrar RAH 1954, Archaeol Fieldwk in Dorset 1953 and 1954,
PDNHAS 76 79
- desc RB occupation:
more
stone slabs at plough level,
suggest the floor of a building
-
- name Norden industrial site
- site Norden, Corfe Castle
- grid SY 956 827
- source RB in 1969, Britannia 1 (1970) p.299
- publ Sunter NJ 1969 p.187
- publ Cox PW 1984
- publ Sunter and Woodward 1987
- desc Sunter 1969:
Slag from smelting; waste from manufacture of PM, mudstone
(1,
2)
and
chalk inlays of various thicknesses;
with saw-marks;
triangular pieces apparently
for opus sectile;
a sequence of finished and part-finished mortars
(in PM
and other PL);
waste from manufacture of shale plates and dishes, presumably
lathe-turned, and from carved and decorated shale objects
- loc DORCM, 1972.140 (accession no.
from Drew index
- subst includes PM
- date Occupied 1st to 4th cent AD
- comment
Close to Norden Roman Well, q.v.
- comment One piece of sawn PM was on display in DCM,
2001 Sept., case 37 (Norden); this is one of a group of
miscellaneous worked PM
fragments described in the Architectural section
-
-
- name Ower limestone discs
- site Cleavel Point, Ower
- grid SZ 00 86
- source Sunter and Woodward 1987
p.105-6
- desc Three circular and semicircular slabs of soft limestone;
one circular 32cm diam. and 8cm thick;
one semicircular 64cm diam. and 10cm thick;
one segment of a circle (about 1/4 circle) with hole near original
centre but eccentric, 80cm orig. diam., from post-Roman disturbance pit.
The last, only, illus.
p.106,
fig.56, no.257.
No sign of use as millstones, and too soft. Pivot stones for
potters' wheels ? Similar slab used on the site as
padstone.
Also could have served as
net or thatch weight.
- loc DCM ?
- subst limestone unspecified
- comment see similar discs from
Rope Lake Hole
-
- name Rope Lake Hole discs
- site Rope Lake Hole
- grid SY 932 777
- source Sunter and Woodward 1987
- desc In the later RB phase, 2 large circular slabs, about 65cm diam. 8cm
thick, cut/sawn to circular shape and roughly pecked/split to required
thickness.
- loc DCM ?
- subst limestone or chalk ?
- date c.100-300 AD
- interp Possibly their position as revetment to platform structure
was secondary and they may have been designed as ground slabs for columns
(? of wood).
- comment note also from this site some possible post-footings or pads of
middle or late Iron Age date, particularly
limestone disc 62cm diam. with pierced hole 6cm diam., possibly
footing for post, Late Iron Age.
slab with central socket from post-pit, limestone, domed with flat
base, 40cm diam. 8cm max. thick, central hole on upper surface 11cm
across 1cm deep. Possible post-padstone. Late Iron Age.
broken slab with curved wear-marks, 4cm thick, with on one side an
arc of curved recessed wear-marks 8mm deep and c.48cm diam, not truly
circular. Possible door-threshold, cf.
Bucknowle.
Middle Iron Age.
- cont Peter Woodward
-
-
Dorset (excl. Purbeck and Cranborne Chase)-
- cat DUBIUM
- site Dorchester, Colliton Park I
- publ
Drew CD, Collingwood Selby KC 1938
- desc Pit W of room 18, lined with heavy blocks of limestone.
Possibly a limekiln.
- date Contains coin of Tetricus 270-273AD
-
-
- name Maumbury post packing
- site Maumbury Rings, Dorchester
- grid SY 69 90
- publ Bradley 1976
- desc p.56: [Roman amphitheatre, N entrance]
``Inside these lines of posts, two stone features were recorded as
`rustic pedestals' for monuments flanking the entrance
[E pedestal 76cm across 43cm high, W pedestal 91cm diam 73cm high ]
... not symmetrically placed in relation to the entrance cutting ...
Each consisted of an irregular mass of PL fragments,
some ... reused [with] traces of mortar.
The W pedestal incorporated a gaming board which no longer survives.''
Bradley prefers to interpret them as packing of large postholes,
perhaps for a bridge over the entrance.
- subst PL
- date p.73: It seems that the main period of use of the amphitheatre
was over by the early C2
-
- name Poundbury building stone
- site Poundbury, Dorchester
- grid SY 68 91
- publ Green CS 1987 p.103-8
- desc Building stone from late Roman period includes PL and
Ham Hill tiles and tesserae
- subst PL
-
- name Charles Street early Roman fragments
- site Charles Street, Dorchester (Acland St carpark) 1989-90
- grid SY 6935 9045
- source K Knowles pers.comm.
- publ Adam J 1990
- publ
Davies SM, Farwell D 1989
- desc
(Strat-unit, context, count, description; ordered geologically)
``
46/05/02 2180 1 Broken Shell Limestone 65x45x25mm 96g
46/08/01 2463 1 burnt Broken Shell Bed c27x55x40mm 70g
46/03/11 2509 1 Upper Building Stone c120x40x40mm 318g
46/00/01 2371 1 burnt Cinder Bed c35x35x25mm 30g
46/03/01 2218 1 burnt Cinder Bed c30x30x35mm 53g
46/08/01 2241 1 Lower Building Stone c90x65x20mm 162g
46/08/01 2412 1 Upper Building Stone c15x95x80mm 203g
46/05/02 2180 1 Portland/Purbeck Cherty Series c70x50x48mm 144g
''
- loc DCM, 1996.31 : archive boxes 501--611 and 615, finds bays 145--149
- subst Knowles: PL. See Description above;
only items that are lithologically Purbeck included
- date early Roman
- comment These items are not specifically mentioned in the articles
cited above, but appear in a lithological report (1991) by K Knowles on
items from this dig
- comment see also roofing
and PM fragments,
and other fragments
(late Roman) and
(doubtful)
from the same excavation
- cont
Kathryn Knowles, U. Southampton
-
- name Charles Street late Roman fragments
- site Charles Street, Dorchester (Acland St carpark) 1989-90
- grid SY 6935 9045
- source K Knowles pers.comm.
- publ Adam J 1990
- publ
Davies SM, Farwell D 1989
- desc
(Strat-unit, context, count, description; ordered geologically)
``
56/03/01 2084 3 Broken Shell Bed c70x57x20mm 125g
56/04/02 2055 1 piece of Blue Rag c24x105x65mm 411g (check geol.order; maybe top Corbula Member)
56/04/02 2055 1 Upper Building Stone c42x16x32mm 30g [prob. residual early Roman]
56/01/02 2400 1 piece of Cinder Bed c55x35x20mm 55g [prob. residual early Roman]
56/00/01 2139 1 Lower Building Stone Various
56/01/01 2229 1 Lower Building Stone c100x30x20mm 73g
56/01/02 2051 2 Lower Building Stone c20x45x40mm 65g
''
- loc DCM, 1996.31 : archive boxes 501--611 and 615, finds bays 145--149
- subst Knowles: PL. See Description above;
only items that are lithologically Purbeck included
- date Late Roman
- comment These items are not specifically mentioned in the articles
cited above, but appear in a lithological report (1991) by K Knowles on
items from this dig
- comment see also roofing
and PM fragments,
and other fragments
(early Roman) and
(doubtful)
from the same excavation
- cont Kathryn Knowles, U. Southampton
-
-
- name Lake Farm PM fragment
- site Lake Farm, Poole, Dorset
- grid SY 99 99
- source Beavis p.194
- publ Field NH 1965-1971
- publ Webster G 1972
- publ Webster G 1973
- publ Accounts of 1972 and 1973 excavations by Webster are
in DCM, Wimborne box 1 papers 16, 17, but do not mention PM
- desc Beavis: a frag of well-weathered pinkish PM found in the
backfill of a posthole at Lake datable to around 55-60 AD
- loc ? Poole Museum ?
- subst PM
- date Beavis: 55-60 AD
- date Field NH says
the dating (to 43-60 AD) is mainly by samian
- comment Beavis' source appears to be a pers. comm. from Norman Field;
the cited reports by Field and Webster do not mention this find.
Field 1992, ch.4,
states that the excavations of Lake Farm,
including those by Graham Webster and Poole Museum,
have not yet been published
-
- name Frogmore Farm fragment
- site Milborne, Frogmore Farm, in triangular field, c.1972
- grid SY 801 989
- source Farrar RAH 1973
- desc `... a lump of Purbeck marble at least 2 1/2in thick, with adherent
sandy mortar indicating use as building stone, is in this hilltop context
more likely to be Roman than mediaeval. It has ... Paludina ...
and may have been roughly dressed but certainly not polished'
- subst PM
Cranborne Chase
Hampshire-
- name Winchester Wickham road
- site Winchester, Bar End, Bull Drove
- grid SU 487 218
- source RB in 1997, Britannia 29 (1998) p.427
- desc Two trenches on a site by the course of the Roman road
from Winchester to Wickham (Margary 420) revealed linear features up to
1m in depth containing Roman tile and pottery as well as fragments of PM
and a white, green-streaked marble
- subst PM
- cont P. McCulloch, Winchester Museum Service
-
- name Winnall PM slab
- site Winchester, Winnall Estate
- grid SU 49 30
- publ Collis J 1978 p.86
- desc Small slab, perhaps building stone
- subst ``Dark shelly limestone, externally oxidised, with
reddish tints. Probably PM''
-
- name Winnall PL slab
- site Winchester, Winnall Estate
- grid SU 49 30
- publ Collis J 1978 p.86
- desc Slab, perhaps building stone. Specimen burnt.
- subst ``Middle Purbeck ostracodal limestone with
Ostrea distorta.
Ostracods mostly Cypridea ?fasciculata?.
Upper Building Stone of Purbeck beds. Possibly from
Battle
but Swanage more likely''. PL.
- date JP: prob. Roman,
from association with much other Roman material
-
- cat DOUBTFUL
- site Winchester, Frederick Place, Tower St
- grid SU 48 29
- publ Collis J 1978
p.177, p184
- desc p.177: In mauve-brown silt .. Saxo-Norman cooking pots, C10-11,
and a piece of PM
- desc p.184: Small slab of stone (484.41, Fig.77:1) with 3 smoothed
sides, from an early mediaeval level. PM. Biomicrite with
V. cariniferus and various pelecypods. Gastropods uncrushed
and mixed with sediment exc. near the aperture, [so lithified before great
pressure applied]. Original shell material, prob. aragonite, replaced
by calcite. Could be Roman.
- subst PM
Wiltshire-
-
- name Beavis' Old Sarum PM fragment
- site Old Sarum
- grid SU 14 34
- source Beavis 1970 p.185
- desc [it was suggested that PM was being quarried in C1 from the
Vale of Wardour because]
`recent excavation ... produced a piece of polished PM at ... Old Sarum,
stratified with 1st cent. pottery'. No citation or other details.
[But] `... lower and middle Purbeck are present at Vale of Wardour ... upper
in an attenuated form which does not include PM'
- subst PM
- comment see
note on Chicksgrove Quarry
- comment may be the item below
-
East Anglia-
- name Colchester drain PM
- site Colchester
- grid TL 99 25
- source Hull MR
- publ 1953, RB in 1952, JRS 43 p.122
- desc in a space 40ft sq S of the Castle, buildings forming the
S wing of the `Forum' enclosure were exposed ... a well-made open stone
drain in which were several slabs of foreign and Purbeck marble from
the floor and perhaps from the piers and wall
- subst PM
- comment I understand the PM is not part of the structure of the drain but
stuff that has fallen into it: so it would be inappropriate to put
this item in the Structural section
-
- cat DOUBTFUL
- site Colchester
- grid TL 99 25
- source
Williams 1971 ?
- publ Williams says PDNHAS 59 (1937), p.6 but this
is the Colliton Park excavation !
- desc Purbeck limestone
- subst PL
- date 2nd cent.
-
- name Colchester, Town Walls
- site Colchester
- grid TL 99 25
- publ Hull MR 1958 p.31
- desc Stone building material; identified by ME Cosgrove;
6 frags of PM from Pit 2, bank levels 1 and 3
- subst PM
-
- name Colchester pre-Boudiccan PM
- site Colchester
- grid TL 99 25
- publ
Hawkes and Hull 1947 p.349
- desc Building stone ... represented by a slab of PM from pit A2
- subst PM
- date the authors' period IV, that is
48AD (founding of Colonia) to 60AD (Boudiccan sack)
-
- name Colchester Celtic temple
- site Colchester, Sheepen, 1960
- grid TL 99 25
- source 1961, RB in 1960, JRS 51 p.185
- publ 1960, RB in 1959, JRS 50 p.229
- desc 1960: 100yd W of the bridge crossing the Colne to the N gate
a Romano-Celtic temple of square plan ... excav by Brian Blake ... nothing
remained of cella floor but at its centre was a pit containing large slabs
of PM, one edge of which had been burnt
- desc 1961: In Temple IV, centre of cella, fragments of a PM slab,
part damaged by fire and part protected by a square object such as
a plinth ... with a coin of Nero. Temple IV [is] a timber building burnt
down about the time of Boudica
- subst PM
- date probably 43-60AD
-
- cat FALSUM
- site Colchester, Temple/Castle area
- source Drury PJ 1984 p.40
- desc Purbeck stone [other than PM]:
various varieties, mostly from the lower beds of the succession,
beneath the marble [this presumably refers to the stratification in Purbeck].
[The instances cited are Norman or post-mediaeval]
- date post-Roman
London-
- site London, 15-23 Southwark St (Calverts Building) (MoLAS site 15SKS80)
- grid TQ 33 81
- source Champion JA 2000
- publ Crowley N 1996
- desc Unclass; unident. frags;
- loc Museum of London
- subst Champion: PM
-
- site London, Courage Brewery SE Park St SE1 (MoLAS site COSE84)
- grid TQ 33 81
- source Champion JA 2000
- publ Betts 1996b
- desc Unclass; about 4 frags (out of total of 14) too damaged to identify, or indeterminate function;
- loc Museum of London
- subst Champion: PM
-
- site London, 2 Southwark St, 1a Bedale St (MoLAS site 2SSBS85)
- grid TQ 33 81
- source Champion JA 2000
- publ Betts 1996a site 14
- desc Context 23; Unclass; frag of slab 69mm thick, indet. shape and function;
- loc Museum of London
- subst Champion: PM
-
- site London, Guildhall House, 81-87 Gresham St (MoLAS site GDH85)
- grid TQ 33 81
- source Champion JA 2000
- desc Context 1285; unclass. Blade or paddle shape, roughly elliptical cross-section.
- loc Museum of London acc 231
- subst Champion: PM
Midlands and West-
- cat DOUBTFUL
- site Hamper Mill, Northwood, Middx
- grid 160/5098 1941
- source Biddle M, Merchant Taylors' School
- publ 1951, RB in 1950, JRS 41 p.130
- desc A collection of material including a fragment of PM,
found in the filling of 2 parallel trenches in a gravel pit on
the N bank of the Colne. Not stated to be Roman
- subst PM
-
- name Verulamium rubble ins.XIII
- site Verulamium (St Albans), S corner of Ins.XIII
- grid TL 137 070
- source RB in 1988, Britannia 20 (1989) p.300
- desc More of the timber-framed house built in early C2 ...
was revealed ... [It was] arranged round a yard open to Street XIII/XL
on the SE side, and measured 14m NW to SE by at least 24m ... After the
fire of AD 155/160 the area lay open for a while before
a levelling of rubble was deposited,
perhaps from clearance of the adjacent Baths, since it contained
PM and characteristic roller-stamped tile.
- subst PM
-
- name Verulamium PM ins.XIV
- site Verulamium (St Albans) Ins.XIV
- grid TL 13 07
- source Goodburn and Grew in Frere SS, Verulamium vol.3 p. 80
- desc Frag or offcut from slab of PM,
14mm thick, 57 V XIII 8. AD 155-60. Ins.XIV, bldg 3A. Fallen clay wall.
- loc ?Verulamium Mus?
- subst PM
- date AD 155-160
-
- name Verulamium C4 PM slab no.1
- site Verulamium (St Albans) ?Ins.XXVIII
- grid TL 13 07
- source Goodburn and Grew in Frere SS, Verulamium vol.3 p. 80
- desc Frag or offcut from slab of PM,
14-18mm thick, 58 F I 12. 4th cent. Above bldg XXVIII,2.
- loc ?Verulamium Mus?
- subst PM
- date C4
-
- name Verulamium C4 PM slab no.2
- site Verulamium (St Albans) Ins.XXVIII
- grid TL 13 07
- source Goodburn and Grew in Frere SS, Verulamium vol.3 p. 80
- desc Frag or offcut from slab of PM,
14-20mm thick, 58 D III 2. 4th cent. Ins. XXVIII. Pit.
- loc ?Verulamium Mus?
- subst PM
- date C4
-
- name Longsmith Street PM
- site Gloucester, Longsmith Street, c.1966
- grid SO 84 18
- source pers comm Sue Byrne
- publ Hurst H 1972
- desc various PM fragments
- desc Sue Byrne 2001-06: includes
two frags of mortars
- loc Gloucester Museum, basement,
77/69 sf 186, 490, 858, 785, 1076;
53/69 XXXIV sf 25 `PM slab'; 53/69 sf 124
46/69 II context 4 sf 23 `PM frag'
85/68 sf 26, 121;
85/68 III context 9 said to contain a PM plaque found with two Fe objects;
III context 9 also said to contain a Stirrup `C9110'
74/68 sf 182;
74/68 XII context 207 also said to contain a PM slab with moulded edge;
there was samian in XII 204
- subst Gloucester Mus: PM
- comment Excav Mrs HE O'Neil and Henry Hurst
- comment In Hurst H 1972
the site is referred to as Berkeley Street, as the telephone exchange site
lay on the corner of Longsmith Street and Berkeley St
- cont
Sue Byrne
-
- name Exeter PM Fragments
- site Exeter, legionary bath-house
- grid SX 92 92
- publ Bidwell 1979 p.38
- desc
``The recovery of
PM chips bearing saw-marks
suggests that material ws being finished on the site;
presumably the slabs and mouldings would have been roughly prepared
at the quarry ...''
``A quarry in the E Devon coastal area must have been opened
to provide sandstone for the construction of the baths. On the other hand
... the Purbeck quarry was already functioning by c.60
(Dunning 1949, 15;
Beavis 1970, 191-4;
it may have been opened by [II Augusta] and may have remained under
legionary control till the Flavian period or .. later''
Footnote: ``For a centurion of the III Cyrenaican supervising a quarry,
see MacMullen 1959 p.216 and
219, n.78, and for rock-cut inscriptions in quarries worked by legionary
units on Hadrian's Wall, RIB 998-1016''
- subst PM
- date Bidwell: from circumstantial evidence,
military period,
ie c.55-60 to c.75
(Bidwell 1980 p.39-40)
Wales-
- name Caerleon PM fragment
- site Caerleon, barracks in N corner, 1966
- grid ST 32 90
- publ
Murray-Threipland L 1967
- desc `Stone specimens, ident. by Emlyn Evans, Nat. Museum of Wales ...
2. A specimen of Purbeck `marble'. Worked along one edge. Packed into
foundation trench for Period 4 rebuild of E wall of Barrack IX'.
(Period 4 is thought to be early 3rd cent.)
- subst PM
- date not later than early C3
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