Portland from Bincombe hill
Image credit: Mike Rowland 07/08/07
Sites on Isle of Portland
Images
The isle of Portland from Flowers Barrow.
Image credit: Mike Rowland 06/04/07
The Verne, now a prison, once the probable site of a hillfort.
Image credit: Mike Rowland 03/08/2008.
The isle of Portland from East hill.
Image credit: Mike Rowland 29/05/2007.
The Pulpit rock, a natural rock pillar with a large slab leant against it.
Image credit: Mike Rowland 21/05/2007.
Articles
Mon 19, Mon 26 July & Mon 2 Aug 10.00 – 12.00
C2000, The Community Centre, Easton, Portland
A series of lectures focusing on Portland’s archaeology from the Mesolithic through to the Iron Age and Roman times.
Association for Portland Archaeology – 01305824102
Event part of the Festival of British Archaeology – 17th July to 1st August 2010
This is an island I know very well as I worked here for 5 years and can trace family back for several hundred years. I’m not surprised that Mr Hamhead couldn’t find many sites in this pock marked landscape , it is after all a giant quarry, from which many millions of tons of stone have been removed. The Culverwell site, which he mentions is difficult to access , but is well worth the effort. It is a mesolithic ” summer” camp of about 12000 years b.c.e. which has been a largely amateur labour of love , led by local archaeologist Susann Palmer. There is, albeit scant, evidence from paintings of the island that there was a major Durotrigian hillfort on the site of the Verne prison. The current prison is a converted Palmerstonian fortress , which when it’s defensive ditch was dug by convicts in the 1860 / 70 period, was found to contain a great many burials which showed sword and spear wounds. Artifacts recovered from these burials were of the iron age period, and it is reckoned to be a war grave. Contemporary roman documentary evidence (Tacitus) nicknames the island the “isle of slingers”, the nearby Chesil beach providing millions of pebbles as slingshot ammunition. Enormous caches of pebbles from chesil beach have been found in Dorset hillforts many miles inland.
With only half a day to explore and a bitter wind to contend with... and no map or guidebook, I hope I can be excused for not finding any ancient sites! However I did drive past the Culverwell site on the way out to Portland Bill. It sits right beside the road, which was how I spotted it, with a sign saying middle stoneage site (or something along those lines). All I could see as I drove past were two B&Q sheds and a larger wooden construction that was obviously covering something. The site was not open and you would have to walk to it from the car park at Portland Bill (pay and display) as parking on the road is not allowed.
For more information on site see links.
Very little remains of ancient settlements on the Isle of Portland. And yet this large lump of rock sticking out into the English Channel must have seen plenty of ocupation before the Romans arrived.
The only real evidence still to be seen is at Culver Well, very near the southernmost part of the island at Portland Bill. This is supposed to date back nearly 7,000 years.
Evidence of the Bronze Age can be found in field names etc. Row barrow, Brans Barrow, Round Barrow and Kings Barrow are just some that can be found. Kings Barrow is now a nature reserve in a stone quarry behind The Verne prison. The barrow is said to have existed up until 1870.
The stone that has made Portland famous is possibly the main reason that very little remains on the island. As well as destroying barrows it is thought a stone circle was destroyed in 1847 when The Grove prison was built. The name of the prison could be a clue but it is also mentioned that it was known as the Druids Temple.
The Frolic was said to have been a standing stone near Easton. Again it was gone by the turn of the 20th century.
Another standing stone is thought to have stood near Southwell, giving its name to Long Stone Ope.
During the Iron Age chambers were cut down into the rock. These later became known as Dene Holes, or beehive chambers. They were conical in shape and up to 10ft deep. It is thought they were used to store grain. Several were discovered around King Barrow when quarrying started. I am not sure if any remain.
These are just some quick notes I took from a book on the history of the Island by Stuart Morris. I only had half a day to explore and with all the later industrial history around plus some fantastic coastline I did not have much chance to seek out anymore info. There is a museum on the island but it was closed in late Februrary.