Bucknowle Farm is the site of a Romano-British settlement and a Roman villa, located 1 km (0.62 mi) southeast of Church Knowle and 1 km (0.62 mi) southwest of Corfe Castle village in Dorset, England (grid reference SY95368146). It is about 7 km (4.3 mi) south of Wareham and approximately 9 km (5.6 mi) west of Swanage in the heart of the Isle of Purbeck.
A number of Romano-British sites have been discovered and studied on the Isle of Purbeck. The Romano-British villa complex found at Bucknowle Farm is the first substantial villa to be found south of the Purbeck Hills. It was excavated between 1976 and 1991.
The first signs to its existence were unearthed in 1975 as fragments of pottery were found in a field. The excavations, that subsequently lasted until the summer of 1991, conclusively revealed a complex of domestic and farmstead buildings. Moreover, beneath these, a more complicated system of Iron Age and early Roman Age habitation was uncovered.
There is a camping site within the grounds of Bucknowle Farm.
J. Collins, N. Field; A. Light, (1985), Excavations on the Roman Villa at Bucknowle Farm, Corfe Castle: A Summary of Work, 1976-84. Dorset Natural History & Archaeological Society. ISBN 090034122X
Tony Light, Peter Ellis (2009): Bucknowle, A Romano-British Villa and its ancedents: Excavations 1976-1991, Dorchester, ISBN 978-0-900341-87-8
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
Bucknowle Farm is the site of a Romano-British settlement and a Roman villa, located 1 km (0.62 mi) southeast of Church Knowle and 1 km (0.62 mi) southwest of Corfe Castle village in Dorset, England (grid reference SY95368146). It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a villa site from the Roman period in Britain.
Bucknowle is classified as a Roman villa — a civilian site in the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer. Roman Britain's archaeology encompasses thousands of sites ranging from legionary fortresses and marching camps to villas, temples and towns.
Several Roman sites lie within a short distance, including Roman site N of Brenscombe Farm (1.8 km), East Creech villa (2.8 km), Kingston Down Romano-British farm (4 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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