Monument record 3961/1 - Bath house, White Gates Farm Romano-British Villa

Roman bath house, with a proposed occupation date of mid 3rd to mid 4th century. Excavations in 1999 recovered an early 4th century font/tank, highly decorated and displaying a Chi Ro symbol.

{1} In the pasture meadow known as Goose Holme at SP848331 the Ise Archaeological Society are currently excavating a Roman bath house. Dating evidence indicates the main occupation time frame was between the mid second century to the mid fourth century. It was decided to try to establish where the main occupation area for this could have been situated. One possible location was to the north of the bath house in an area known as Cow Close (centred on SP849832). A preliminary field survey undertaken in the summer of 1998 indicated the presence of building materials and pottery fragments, of which a small sample was recovered.

{3} Excavation of a ditch closely associated with the bath house identified an early 4th century lead tank, located on the eastern side of the ditch, sealed by building tumble. The tank has a visible face of 47x27cm, diameter of 48cm, and weighs c.25kg. There are a series of holes in the body of the tank that may have been made by a heated implement. They appear to be randomly placed and may be unrelated to its possible function. There is a vertical lead strip on the back of the tank suggesting a repair. The bottom of the tank has been removed probably with shears and discarded, this may suggest its use as a portable icon or desecration.
Around the rim runs a single broad cable, and below this a series of open square panels, edged with the same cable deisgn. Within each of the three visible panels there is a St Andrew's type cross. On the right hand panel a possible D shaped design appears to the right of the cross. In the central panel the cross has has had a single line added through its centre at the top of which there is also an ellipse. The whole of this is encircled creating a simple Chi-Rho motif. The motif would suggest a date post 339.
After conservation the font/tank will be donated to Kettering Museum, where it will be placed on display.

{4} During the 2000 excavation of a ditch closely associated with the bath house a saturated timber pile was found. The timber pile is oak. Report establishing the pile depth and its theoretical bearing load.

{5} In 1999 excavation took place to the east of the bath house rooms revealed earlier, exposing further walls and rooms.
In 2000 further work done of the west ditch revealed that the west wall of the bath house was supported by wooden piles, and subsequent work in 2001 revealed that the side walls to the western extension were also supported. This was because the west end of the bath house had been built over a large ditch.
The 2003 excavations included floors of rooms in the bath house, which needed to be backfilled because of deterioration.
In 2004 excavating down through the floor of the hypocaust revealed a drain having been purposely built into the floor at the time of construction, the entrance from the north wall coincided with the earlier excavation of the ditch or pool collecting the run-off from the limestone floor/platform. The outlet on the south wall went into a possible ditch, which was later built upon, but the foundations of the east wall had a gap to allow water to exit outside.
In 2005 further excavation of the hypocaust floor revealed three lines of posts sunk into the blue clay. The posts were irregularly spaced and did not line up.In 2006 excavation continued of the three wall alignments identified as posts in the hypocaust in 2005. The west wall of the structure had been built on the posts found in 2005 but at some time later the room had been extended and much deeper foundations cut through the blue clay.
Further excavation was also carried out on the south wall at the east end of the bath house. This wall was found to be more substantial than any other in the structure.
A large collection of coins was found over the full range of dates. Roman coins found ranged from AD 41 to AD383. Lead and bronze pieces were also found, all with cut marks. Two pieces of lead had the same rope work markings as the lead font.

{12} Geophysical survey suggests enclosures and other features in the vicinty of the Roman bath house.

{14} IARS have been excavating a detached Roman bath suite at White Gates Farm, Rushton since 1996/7. The area had been over-site stripped during previous years, following which the hard masonry had been exposed and the interior of several rooms excavated.
Detached bathhouses are a feature of the Romano-British countryside that has received much consideration. Many have been excavated and they display a range of levels of complexity and development. This particular example had clearly undergone several modifications (and is believed by the excavators to relate to a Romano-British building about 100m away to the north). The problem with such a structure is how far its function and usage is related to a single family group and how far it relates to a larger estate-based community. Its location away from a main structural range is also not necessarily the result of anything other than the need to be near a reliable source of preferably flowing water, in this case the spring feeding the stream that flowed past the western end of the buildings range.
The dating of the bathhouse is problematic since it was subject to several rebuilds and at the time of excavation no construction deposits had been examined. Butt joints and differences in masonry types showed how the structure had extended westwards and southwards from an original core. That westwards resulted in the bathhouse encroaching upon the spring-fed stream whichy had probably been exploited for water for the cold plunge which was at this end of the range. The construction of a drain with lead pipe in the west wall of the plunge would have required the formalisation of the channel as a drain, and it is likely that it was at this stage that the ditch was levelled and the Swithland slate gutter constructed.
It was recommended that further examination of the stream/gutter be undertaken by IARS, particularly the excavation of the area of the drain from the cold bath. This point could establish the relationship between the stream, ditch re-cut and final gutter could be linked to the structural alterations to the bath suite and its waste-water management.
{15} Possible foundations of building showing up as parch mark on photograph. (Possibly relates to earlier finds of Romano-British coins and pottery sherds in the area.)

{16} A small trench was excavated over the site of the parch marks reported in 1995. Earlier probing with a fork had encountered a stony area, over which the trench was subsequently excavated. This exposed an east-west running wall at 150mm depth. Plaster was found adhering to one side. Finds included Romano-British pottery, stone roof tile and numerous fragments of wall flue duct. Photographs.

{17} The building is a possible Roman bath house.

{18} C4th bath house 30m long. Finds included terracotta tiles and painted plasterwork as well as coins and pottery.

{19} Second year of excavation of the Roman bath house by Kettering Archaeological Society; the article mentions recovery of several coins, pottery and glass.

<1> Looker J., A Field Walk Survey of Cow Close Field, White Gates Farm, Rushton, Northamptonshire, (checked) (Report). SNN103086.

<2> Looker J., 1999, SMR Report Form, (unchecked) (Notes). SNN101366.

<3> Looker J., 2000, Another Early Christian Tank/Font From Northamptonshire, p.163-4 (checked) (Article). SNN104039.

<4> Looker, J., 2000, Today's Technology - Yesterday's Problems, (unchecked) (Report). SNN107134.

<5> Ise Archaeological Research Society, 2008, Roman Bath House, Whitegates Farm, Rushton, (checked) (Report). SNN106094.

<6> Brindle, T., 2008, Northamptonshire (Draft) (Chapter). SNN106263.

<7> Horne B. (Editor), 2000, South Midlands Archaeology: CBA Group 9 Newsletter (30), p. 37 (Newsletter). SNN113034.

<8> Howell, G.M.; Middleton, P.; Frost, R.L.; Luiz, F.C. de Oliveira, 2002, Romano-British Wall-Painting Fragments: A Spectroscopic Analysis, pp.277-281 (unchecked) (Article). SNN107135.

<9> Davis S., 1998, Kettering Evening Telegraph, (checked) (Article). SNN106092.

<10> Looker J., 2002, White Gate Farm, Rushton: Roman Bath House, (unchecked) (Plan). SNN102186.

<11> Chapman A. (Editor), 1997, Archaeology in Northamptonshire 1996, p.216 Rushton (checked) (Journal). SNN105941.

<12> Ise Archaeological Research Society, 2008, Ise Archaeological Research Society: Archaeological Investigation, Whitegates Farm, Rushton, Northamptonshire 2008-9, (checked) (Project Design). SNN106095.

<13> CADMAN G.E., 1999, NOTE, (unchecked) (Notes). SNN43959.

<14> Meadows I., 2001, Excavation Of A Bath House At White Gates Farm, Rushton, 1.1 (checked) (Report). SNN100786.

<15> Palmer D.H., 1995, Photograph, (checked) (Photographic prints (COL)). SNN2087.

<16> BELLAMY B., 1997, SMR Report Form, (checked) (SMR Report Form). SNN50324.

<17> BELLAMY B., 1997, ORAL REPORT TO SMR, (unchecked) (Uncertain). SNN51445.

<18> Underwood C., 1997, Kettering Evening Telegraph, (checked) (Article). SNN106093.

Record last edited

Feb 10 2025 7:34PM