Purton
Museum
and Historical Society
Change to Advertised Programme
The talk on Shackleton by Martin Collisson, originally scheduled for Jan 23rd 2025, has had to be postponed until 2026. Instead we will have "Wiltshire during the Viking menace" by Nick Baxter. Alfred the Great famously turned the tide of Viking expansion here in Wessex, but just over 100 years later the Viking Cnut was on the throne of England. This talk tells the story of how these struggles impacted Wiltshire.
Don't Forget!
Romans in Purton
On 22nd Feb, Andy Hood of Foundations Archaeology gave a talk on the excavations at Willis Way in Purton that took place in the 1980s and in 2016. The highlight of the excavations was the discovery of a 4th century Roman burial ground. The talk attracted a lot of interest and further details of the discoveries are in the attached documents (just click to open).
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The talk attracted so much attention that Andy thought that a program of test pitting in peoples back gardens would be feasible to gain a better understanding of the extent and nature of the Roman presence in Purton. 30 volunteer households were recruited and a presentation was made to the volunteers on 24th April at the Royal George in Purton. The presentation can be viewed in the document below
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Pictures from Romans in Purton
16th and 18th May
A piece of a Roman tegula (Roman roof tile) from Blacklands
1st June
22nd June
29th June
27th July
A piece of worked flint. It didn't quite make it as a blade, known as debitage
The finds trays, mostly pottery from various eras
A sociable dig in Pavenhill
28th September (photos by Anna Hodges)
Possible Iron Age pottery (needs to be confirmed by experts)
Roman grey ware. So called because it is Roman and grey
The inside of the bowl of a Roman mortar and pestle. The surface is impregnated with hard minerals to aid grinding of herbs.
2nd November
Roman tessera - the building block of a Roman mosaic
Worked flints
Early medieval pottery, possibly 11th century
IPossibly not Roman
Purton Voices
The recordings of Alec Robbins interviews with Purton residents have been transferred to the "About Purton" section.