Having retired from active service on account of ill-health, and being incapable of strong physical exercise, I determined to devote the remaining portion of my life chiefly to an examination of the antiquities on my own property. Of these there were a considerable number ... it almost seemed to me as if some unseen hand had trained me up to be the possessor of such a property ... [Pitt Rivers, 1887, xi-xiii, quoted in Bowden, 1991: 103]

Pitt-Rivers' is as well known for his excavations on his own estates on the Wiltshire/ Dorset border on Cranborne Chase as he was for his excavations and inspections elsewhere in the country.

After he inherited his estate in 1880 he began a series of excavations. These are discussed at some length in his two biographies, written by Bowden (1991) and Thompson (1977). The results of the excavations were published by Pitt-Rivers himself in a series of special publications which were lavishly illustrated by the assistants he hired to help on the excavations; directing the men who dug the trenches, recording the fines and producing plans and models of the sites.

Bowden explains that the excavations were carried out with the help of his assistants, and a workforce of labourers drawn from the General's own estate workers. [1991: 104-7] The timing of excavations, therefore, had to fit around the annual cycle of farming activities, in 1888 he said 'I shall resume the [archaeological] inquiry as soon as the harvest, if such it can be called this year, is over ...' [Quoted in Thompson, 1977: 92; Bowden, 1991: 107]. Thompson records that he employed between 8 and 30 men on digging, costing him at least £300 a year in wages. [1977: 92] Taking into account the additional costs of the assistants the total staff cost for the excavations was less than £600 according to Thompson. [1977:95] As Thompson remarks, the costs were 'extraordinarily low'. After finishing the excavation he caused a medalet to be placed in the excavations to mark the disturbance (see illustration).

This web page gives a brief overview of each of the excavations carried out on his Rushmore estate, and nearby, and also where some of the finds are now to be found. Note that very few of these finds are recorded in the catalogue of the second collection, but where they are this is also recorded below.

1880

9 August to September - Barrow-digging at Rushmore with George Rolleston and the Revd. H.H. Winwood (a geologist). The round barrow was situated next to South Drive. The barrow was later named after Rolleston who died shortly afterwards. [Bowden, 1991: 108; Thompson, 1977: 125]

1881
October to December - Winklebury Camp. Winklebury or Winkelbury was actually part of the estate of Sir Thomas Grove of Ferne House [Bowden, 1991: 112; Thompson, 1977: 125] Extensive number of items in Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum [S&SWM] from this excavation
October 1881 - Ha-Ha Rushmore [S&SWM collections, see SBYWM. RU3.49]
November - Carranty Rack, Park House, Shiftway Coppice and sunk fence, Rushmore Park [Bowden, 1991: 113] Some items from Park House Farm, sunk fence and Shiftway Coppice in S&SWM
Note: it is probably this year or the next that the assistants start to be employed.

1882
January - Rushmore Park pits [Bowden, 1991: 114]
January - February - Winklebury Camp [Bowden, 1991: 112; Thompson, 1977: 125]
November - Park House, Shiftway Coppice and sunk fence, Rushmore Park [Bowden, 1991: 113]

1883
No excavations on estate.

1884
September to December - Woodcutts [Bowden, 1991: 114; Thompson, 1977: 125-6] Extensive number of items in S&SWM from this excavation

1885
January to April - Woodcutts [Thompson, 1977: 125-6, note Bowden suggests work ends in December 1884]
November to December - Woodcutts [Thompson, 1977: 125-6]

1886
4 October to December - Rotherley [Thompson, 1977: 126] Extensive number of items in S&SWM from this excavation

1887
January to April - Rotherley [Thompson, 1977: 126]
Publication of first Cranborne Chase excavations volume.

1888
May to June - Bokerly Dyke [Thompson, 1977: 101, 126] Extensive number of items in S&SWM from this excavation
Publication of second Cranborne Chase excavations volume.

1889
April - Wansdyke  [Thompson, 1977: 126] Extensive number of items in S&SWM from this excavation
November to December - Bokerly Dyke and Woodyates [Bowden, 1991: 118] Extensive number of items in S&SWM from this excavation
No specific date: King John's House

1890
20 January to 27 February, 15 April to 22 May - Bokerly Dyke and Woodyates [Thompson, 1977: 126]
July - Wansdyke

1891
No excavations on estate.

1892
No excavations on estate.
Publication of third Cranborne Chase volume

1893
27 April to 4 July - South Lodge Camp [Bowden, 1991: 126; Thompson, 1977: 127] Numbers of items in S&SWM from this excavation. There are also 15 objects listed in the catalogue of the second collection from this excavation.
August to September - Handley Hill & Down  [Bowden, 1991: 126; Thompson, 1977: 127] There are four items from Handley Hill excavations listed in the catalogue of the second collection
August to September - Barrows 23 - 24 [Bowden, 1991: 130; Thompson, 1977: 127] Extensive number of items in S&SWM from this excavation There are five items from Barrow 23 and six from Barrow 24 excavations listed in the catalogue of the second collection
11 September to 25 October  - Wor Barrow Ditch [Bowden, 1991: 131; Thompson, 1977: 127] Extensive number of items in S&SWM from this excavation, there are also 43 objects from this excavation listed in the catalogue of the second collection
October to November - Handley Down [Thompson, 1991: 135]

1894
February - Nursery Gardens
29 March to 12 May - Wor Barrow [Thompson, 1977: 127] Extensive number of items in S&SWM from this excavation
May to July - Handley Down [Bowden, 1991: 135]
May to June - Barrows 26 & 27 [Bowden, 1991: 135] Extensive number of items in S&SWM from this excavation
August to November - Handley Down [Bowden, 1991: 135]

1895
April - Handley Down Barrows 28, 29 [Bowden, 1991: 137; Thompson, 1977: 127] There is one object from Wyke Down barrow 29 in the catalogue of the second collection and three others in S&SWM
19 November to December - Martin Down  [Bowden, 1991: 138; Thompson, 1977: 127] Extensive number of items in S&SWM from this excavation, and there are seven items from this excavation listed in the catalogue of the second collection

1896
January to March - Martin Down [Bowden, 1991: 138; Thompson, 1977: 127]

1897
September to 22 December - Iwerne Courtney [Bowden, 1991: 140; Thompson, 1977: 127] Extensive number of items in S&SWM from this excavation

1898-1900
No excavations on estate.

Other, undated, excavations:

Barrows 1, 3, 5 [Barrow Copse, Handley], 6-8 [Tinkley Down Barrow], 9-17 [Scrubbity Copse Barrows], 19 [Chalkpits Copse], 20 [Susan Gibbs Walk], 28 [Wyke Down], 29 [Thorny Down] Numbers of items in S&SWM from this excavation

Please note that Bowden, 1991: 109 & 111 show good maps of all the Pitt-Rivers' excavations on the Rushmore estate.

Bibliography for this article

Barrett, J. et al. 1991. Landscape, monuments and society: The prehistory of Cranborne Chase Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.

Bowden, M. 1984 [reprinted 1990, 1995] General Pitt Rivers, the father of scientific archaeology Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum

Bowden, Mark 1991. Pitt Rivers: The Life and Archaeological Work of Lieutenant-General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Pitt-Rivers, A.H.L.F. 1887. Excavations in Cranborne Chase near Rushmore on the borders of Dorset and Wiltshire vol I Rushmore privately printed

Pitt-Rivers, A.H.L.F. 1888. Excavations in Barrows near Rushmore. Excavations in the Romano-British village Rotherly. Excavations in Cranborne Chase vol II Rushmore Privately printed

Pitt-Rivers, A.H.L.F. 1892 Excavations in Bokerley Dyke and Wansdyke Dorset and Wilts 1888-91 vol III of Cranborne Chase Rushmore privately printed

Pitt-Rivers, A.H.L.F. 1898 Excavations in Cranborne Chase. vol IV Rushmore Privately printed

Thompson, M.W. 1977. General Pitt Rivers: Evolution and Archaeology in the Nineteenth Century Bradford-on-Avon: Moonraker Press.

AP, April 2011