Monument record 3507 - Extensive area of Iron Age and Roman settlement, Wollaston

Archaeological investigation was undertaken over a number of years during the 1990s in advance of gravel extraction. Extensive lengths of late Bronze Age/early Iron Age pit alignments were recorded as well as a number of Iron Age farmsteads. Along the entire length of the study area was a Roman road along which a number of Roman farmsteads were spaced

{2} The largest area of pit alignments, believed to be Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age in date, examined in the county is at Wollaston, where one alignment was traced for over 3km. Along that length numerous pits were excavated and bulk soil samples wet sieved to try to recover both environmental material as well as any dating evidence. Despite processing nearly 50 such samples not even a single piece of charcoal was recovered, probably reflecting the absence of contemporary habitation sites in the vicinity. In addition to the main single alignment elements of other parallel single alignments were also examined, the alignment furthest west and closest to the river followed a course in places that would have mirrored the line of the river. The presence of single and double pit alignments running perpendicular to the main lines had the effect of subdividing the landscape into parcels of ground defined by lines of pits. The Roman farms, of which four were excavated, were all located along the line of a road that had originated as a pre-Roman track along a line initially defined by a pit alignment. The farms were all adjacent to or partially overlying pre-conquest Iron Age farms, perhaps reflecting some continuity of the land units in the area and maybe some continuity of people. Each farm also lay at the limit of the medieval alluviation suggesting that flooding may have been an issue at that time.

{3} Running the entire 3km of the study area lay a major Roman road, linking Irchester to Towcester, along which, at a spacing of between 500-700m, Roman farmsteads were present. Each was the subject of a set-piece excavation whilst the surrounding fields were recorded by a detailed watching brief. Of the farmsteads examined none produced evidence indicating high status and, although pottery indicated occupation from the 1st to the 4th centuries, few coins and brooches were found. Structures were generally poorly preserved.

{6} Pre-emptive excavation and watching brief ahead of gravel extraction. The main excavation area comprised a pair of small conjoined Iron Age enclosures. The enclosures were preceded by a number of Neolithic pits as well as a double pit alignment. A trackway was also found which in its latter phases of Roman date. Elsewhere an area of Roman activity was found to be two fragmentary buildings overlying field boundaries.

<1> Rees G., 2008, Enclosure Boundaries and Settlement Individuality in The Iron Age, (unchecked) (Article). SNN106040.

<2> Northamptonshire Archaeology & University of Exeter, 2009, Nene Valley: Archaeological and Environmental Synthesis, Part 1, p. 104 (Digital archive). SNN111339.

<3> Brown A.G.; Meadows I.; Turner S.D.; Mattingly D.J., 2001, Roman Vineyards in Britain: Stratigraphic & Palynological Data from Wollaston in The Nene Valley, England (Article). SNN103331.

<4> Shaw M., 1993-4, Wollaston, Pioneer Aggregates Quarry, p. 185 (Note). SNN104157.

<5> Burnham, B C, Keppie, L J F, Esmonde Cleary, A S, Hassall, M W C, and Tomlin, R S O, 1994, Roman Britain in 1993, p. 273 (Notes). SNN113975.

<6> Pike, A (ed), 1994, South Midlands Archaeology: CBA Group 9 Newsletter (24), p. 23 (Newsletter). SNN40019.

<7> Atkins, R and Meadows, I, 2024, Neolithic pits, late Bronze Age/early Iron Age pit alignments and Iron Age to Roman settlements at Wollaston Quarry, Northamptonshire (Monograph). SNN116677.

Record last edited

Dec 4 2024 12:36PM