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-
- name Colliton Park counters
- site Library site, Colliton Park, Dorchester, 1961-3
- grid SY 690 908
- source Aitken GM and GN 1982 p.117
- desc Counters of various Purbeck limestones found in all areas and levels,
only roughly rendered circular and flat,
diameter varying from 32mm to 14mm
- subst PL
-
- 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.
-
- 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- desc 3 querns, unpublished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
-
-
- 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''
-
- 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
- subst Hearne and Smith:
Purbeck marble (PM)
- date site period 3, late C1 to C4
-
- 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 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 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.
-
- 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.
- desc Photos by JP, ref.2005-10:
.24 general view
- loc Square and Compass archaeological collection
- subst Purbeck Burr (PL) (DB220) (C Newman, JP)
- date uncertain, Roman type
- cont Charlie Newman
-
-
- 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
-
- 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
- subst PL
- date unknown
-
-
- 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
-
-
-
- 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
-
- 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
-
- 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 Poundbury, Dorchester
- grid SY 68 91
- publ Green CS 1987 p.103-8
- desc Possible broken PL pestle
(fig.74
no.4), burnt
- subst PL ?
-
- 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 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
-
- 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 ?]
-
- name Silchester Pestles
- site Silchester
- grid SU 64 62
- source Beavis p.203
- publ Boon GC 1974 p.166
- desc
Pestles 2. Well carved and polished in contrast to local stone pestles.
Illus.
- 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.)
-
- site Silchester
- grid SU 64 62
- publ Boon GC 1957 p.104
- desc ``Purbeck ... palettes with bevelled edges''
- subst PM
-
- 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 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 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 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 Frere and Tomlin 1992
p.50 and 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 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, 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 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, 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, 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
-
- 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 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 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
-
- 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 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
-
-
- 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 Chapmans Pool Anchor
- cat DOUBTFUL
- site Seabed S of Chapmans Pool and Emmetts Hill, 15m of water
- grid SY 95 76
- source DCM display, main hall N side
- desc 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 DCM, Victorian hall, ground floor, W side; acc. 2004.53
- subst DCM: PM; JP: not sure
- date medieval or earlier
- 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
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