Monument record 726/0/161 - Probable Mid C2nd Romano-British Building

{1} Following the demise of the rubbish pits the site was sealed by further layers, possibly deliberate levelling of the ground for the erection of a further building on the site. Cutting these layers were two parallel building slots 1.5m apart on an east-west alignment. Both slots were different in terms of size and fill.
The inner, northern slot was 0.9m wide x 0.15m deep, with steep edges and a flat base. It contained two fills, that to the western side contained a lot more stones. There were large quantities of small water-rounded pebbles and pieces of limestone up to 0.2m long, along with pottery, bone, roof and heating tile fragments, and iron working waste. Much of the pottery was residual, dating to the late C1st.
The southern, outer slot was narrower, being 0.7m wide x 0.1-0.15m deep, with steep sides and a flat base. A few pottery sherds of the mid C2nd were recovered from its upper fill.
The larger slot appears to have been a main wall to a building, possibly in stone, with the smaller slot representing an external veranda, the clay fill of the slot perhaps indicating the remains of a timber and clay/cob wall.
The quantity of finds implies that the building was wealthy and had underfloor heating. The width of the walls suggests that it could have been a large load-bearing structure, possibly two-storied.
On the south side of the trench was a single small posthole 0.3m diameter x 0.12m deep. It did not contain pottery.

{2} A second building surviving as a robbed stone wall with a probable timber veranda dated to the middle of the 2nd century before its demise at the time of the construction of the town defences. Seven postholes cutting the line of this building may mark a later building dating to between the late 2nd and 4th centuries.

<1> Woodfield C.; Atkins R., 2000, Archaeological Excavation At Sponne School, Towcester, Northamptonshire June-July 1997, p.11-13 (checked) (Report). SNN100281.

<2> Taylor J.; Foard G.; Laughton J.; Steadman S.; Ballinger J., 2002, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Towcester, Section 3.3.2 (checked) (Report). SNN103132.

<3> Atkins R.; Chapman A., 2002, Excavation of a Roman Settlement at Sponne School, Towcester, 1997, p.21-29 (unchecked) (Article). SNN103874.

Record last edited

Feb 24 2015 7:12PM