Monument record 1621/0/9 - Roman building alongside Gartree Road

Archaeological excavation undertaken in 1986 prior to road widening works identified a substantial stone-founded building adjacent to and south of a wide road aligned north-west to south-east. To the north of the road were a series of ditched enclosures.

{1} A small area excavation to the immediate east of the A605 astride the course of Gartree Road did identify a small rectangular stone foundation strip building (11 x 7m in size) but it remains unpublished. Evaluation of the plans and notes, however, indicates that this building was probably occupied in the second and third centuries and overlay a curving timber slot that may be the remains of a round house to the south of the road.

{2} To date, the cropmarks indicate that the southern side of Gartree Road at least, and both sides of the looping road through the settlement, appear to have been lined to varying degrees by probable stone foundation strip buildings. In general, this pattern is confirmed by the reports of stone recovered through field walking and perhaps suggests that the smaller side roads were either primarily for access to the surrounding landscape or lined by timber structures less likely to be identifiable as cropmarks.

{3} Archaeological excavation in 1986 prior to road widening identified a Roman road (probably the Gartree Road) aligned north-west to south-east. It was 28m wide. The road surfaces overlay a series of ditches possibly dating to as late as the mid-2nd century AD. On the south side of the road was a rectangular stone-founded building. There were no apparent internal divisions. There was a clay and plaster floor overlying a surface of crushed limestone. In the north-western corner of the building was a probable oven and there was also a central hearth. A curvilinear ditch underlying the building may be the remains of a roundhouse. The area surrounding the building does not appear to have been fully excavated, since an adjacent trial trench which was excavated down to 'natural' geology identified a series of pits and ditches that were broadly parallel with the road.
To the north of the road there was a series of rectilinear ditched enclosures which were perpendicular to it, as well as a series of pits and a probable waterhole/well. A posthole group may have been the remains of another building. An isolated stone-lined grave containing an inhumation was also found in this area.
Finds indicating an early Roman origin for the settlement included a sherd of Samian dating from 50-65 AD from a ditch underlying the road surface. A further early assemblage of pottery was found in a large pit underlying the road.

{4} An area of 0.5ha was examined on the eastern edge of the settlement. A rectangular buildinglay at right-angles to a (?) second-century road-surface which post-dated pits and gullies of the late first century. Other pits and gullies of second- to third-century date werenoted, together with an isolated stone-lined grave containing a supine extended burial.

<1> Taylor J., 2000, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Titchmarsh (Roman), (checked) (Digital archive). SNN100748.

<2> Taylor J., 2000, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Titchmarsh (Roman), p.9 (part checked0 (Report). SNN106660.

<3> Voice, P, 1987, A45/A605 New Road, Titchmarsh: level 3 file (Draft). SNN113027.

<4> Frere, S S, Hassall, M W C, and Tomlin, R S O, 1987, Roman Britain in 1986, p. 324 (Note). SNN113028.

Record last edited

Feb 25 2022 11:11AM