Monument record 1170/2 - Villa Estate/Farm, Deanshanger villa

Located to the east of the Roman villa and courtyard [11170/1] was an ancillary area containing multiple enclosures, at least one rectangular building with an apsidal end (interpreted as a barn when it was excavated) and three circular houses. The main enclosures were arranged east to west in a 'ladder' pattern and may have been used for livestock or have had more specialist agricultural functions. There was a T-shaped corn dryer and evidence for gravel quarries, a watering hole and possible metal-working was also found.

{1} Excavation was undertaken in 1972 of an area to the east of the villa prior to enlargement of the school playing fields. The earliest features was a regular series of conjoined rectilinear enclosures (a 'ladder-system') which Woods dated to the immediate post-Boudiccan period. These contained much pottery, domestic refuse and building debris. Two major ditches ran across almost the entire width of the site on an east-west alignment. These were 21.3m apart and never more than a few feet out of parallel. The intermediate area was sub-divided into a number of smaller plots or enclosures by shorter lengths of ditch aligned almost due north-south. The largest of the enclosed areas measured 30.5m by 21.3m. On the basis of the pottery evidence it would seem that these ditches were open during the Flavian period and had largely silted up by the end of the first century AD. The lack of obvious entrances for livestock suggests that the well-drained plots were given over to crop production rather than animal pounds. A contemporary, and much larger, enclosure lay to the south. There was a large D-shaped cattle enclosure dating from the second century and in the third century it was replaced by a more solidly built stockade. An E-shaped timber structure represented by slot trenches 0.3m wide. It was probably an open fronted cart shed measuring 8.5m by 4.4m with access on the east side. A drinking pool which began life as a sump and was then enlarged for use as a drinking pool for cattle.
The only masonry structure was a large 'barn' with an apsidal west end. The barn was 11.7m wide internally and 13.2m externally. Its south wall was uncovered for a distance of 21.8m before all trace was lost. The walls, never more than two courses thick, were 0.7m thick. It seems likely that they were dwarf walls or sills supporting a timber-framed superstructure.
At the north-eastern corner of the enclosures was a roundhouse which had two hearths. A possible contemporary culvert ran from inside the roundhouse to a limestone platform. Three outbuildings were found close to the hut. Two other, later, roundhouses were also found.

A complex of trenches and pits apparently dug for the extraction of gravel. Most of the pits were quite small and shallow and seem to have been supplementary to the trenches which probably supplied the initial need. Evidence pointed to the quarries having been backfilled soon after the excavation. The hollows caused by the settling of the infilling material were used for cooking purposes.

The presence of numerous fragments of tegulae and imbrices in assocation with the 1st century pottery in the field ditches suggests a local source of roofing within a few decades of the occupation and also, it point to the existence on the villa site of an early Roman structure employing a fairly advanced form of architecture.

{2} Further excavations in 1972 to the east of the earlier one revealed ditches and gullies containing early Roman pottery, domestic refuse and 1st-century brooches. Other recorded features included three 3rd-century circular structures, between 5 m and 12 m in diam, paddocks and compounds, a pond, a T-shaped corn-drying oven, a metal-working hearth and a large barn about 13 m by 21 m. A silver denarius of Sallustia Barbia Orbiana was found on the site in 1963.

{16} Archaeological excavation prior to the construction of a Six Form in an area to the south-west of the villa courtyard identified a series of parallel trenches. Dating evidence was sparse, but the trenches were interpreted as cultivation beds dating to the Roman period.

{19} Excavation was undertaken in 2006 prior to the construction of an all-weather football pitch in the area between the 1957 and 1972 excavations. Woods dated the main enclosure ditches to the immediate post-Boudiccan period (AD69-90). The main ditches were also seen in this investigation where they could not be dated so precisely, and the current evident suggests that some at least may be slightly later.

Two identical circular stone structures were identified. One was the same as the 'oven' found in 1957 and the other was of the same construction but had not been fire-reddened, suggesting that a firing process was not an integral function. It is possible that these features were in some way related to the construction of the villa or other buildings as part of the processing of quarried material.

<1> WOODS P.J., 1972, Excavations at Deanshanger, Northants, 1972, (checked) (Full Report). SNN60037.

<2> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1982, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.41/Site 3 (checked) (Series). SNN77382.

<3> Ordnance Survey, 1950s/1960s, Ordnance Survey Record Cards, SP73NE2 (checked) (Index). SNN443.

<4> 1958, The Journal of Roman Studies, /48 (unchecked) (Journal). SNN26346.

<5> SOCIETY FOR THE PROMOTION OF ROMAN STUDIES, 1973, Britannia, 4/294 (checked) (Journal). SNN108081.

<6> FOARD G.R., Oral Report to SMR, (checked) (Oral Report). SNN50832.

<7> 1973, DOE Archaeological Excavations (Various Years), p.61-62 (unchecked) (Series). SNN45978.

<8> 1960, Northamptonshire Architectural and Archaeological Society Report, 63 (unchecked) (Report). SNN60038.

<9> Brown, A E, 1974, Deanshanger R-B villa, 3/8-9 (unchecked) (Journal). SNN112840.

<10> 1972, Excavations at Deanshanger, (checked) (Photographs). SNN109063.

<11> MONK L., 1982, The Roman Villa at Deanshanger, (checked) (Full Report). SNN47354.

<12> Holmes, M., 1996, SMR Report Form, (checked) (SMR Report Form). SNN53850.

<13> Holmes, M., 1996, An Archaeological Evaluation at Kingsbrooke School, Deanshanger, (checked) (Report). SNN40924.

<14> Chapman A., 1996-97, Archaeology in Northamptonshire 1996-7, 27/215 (checked) (Notes). SNN104580.

<15> Brown J., 2004, Geophysical Survey and Trial Trench Evaluation at Kingsbrook School, Deanshanger, Northamptonshire, p.8 (checked) (Report). SNN104820.

<16> Brown J., 2005, Archaeological Excavation of The Proposed Sixth Form Block, Kingsbrook School, Deanshanger, Northamptonshire (Full Report). SNN105136.

<17> Brown, J., 2006, The Roman Villa at Deanshanger, Northamptonshire - Excavations 2004-2005, p.6-7 (checked) (Article). SNN112209.

<19> Brown, J., 2006, The Roman Villa at Deanshanger, Northamptonshire - Excavations 2004-2005, p.5-10 (checked) (Report). SNN105445.

Record last edited

Jun 4 2024 11:01AM