Monument record 6994/0/2 - Romano-British agricultural activity, Stoke Road

Archaeological investigation prior to development identified Roman activity on the site which dated from the late 1st century to the early 2nd century AD with the presence of a ditch and a possible pit or gully as well as an extensive and relatively thick buried soil.

{2} Archaeological excavation was undertaken. Part of at least two intercutting pits was observed. The excavate pit was in excess of 1m long and 0.9m wide and contained 14 sherds of abraded Romano-British pottery along with animal bone. The pit was sealed by a layer only surviving to a depth of 0.2m which also contained pottery and animal bone. It seems likely that this material was the fill of another overlapping pit, the limits of which were beyond the trench. There was some evidence that the pits had been deliberately sealed and the ground levelled.
The full function of the pit group could not be determined although the presence of wet land snails and the concreted lower fills suggests that the pits had been water-filled, though possibly only seasonally.
A north-south aligned ditch with a U-shaped profile in the north, becoming V-shaped to the south, was 0.07 to 1.20m wide x 0.35 to 0.55m deep. The excavated segments contained late C1st Roman pottery as well as snail shells.
The ditch cut an earlier pit or terminating gully, shown in the south-facing section of the excavation trench. This had a U-shaped profile and was 0.50m wide x 0.25m deep. It also contained small snail shells.
The pit or gully was overlain by a layer which had been picked up during the earlier trial trenching, when it was found to contain late C1st to C2nd pottery.
The features were on a south-facing slope and the environmental evidence suggests that they were in an area of open grassland subject to damp conditions, possibly part of an early Roman field system located away from settlement.

<1> Muldowney, L., 2013, Archaeological Evaluation on Land at Stoke Road, Ashton, Northamptonshire October 2013, p.5 (checked) (Report). SNN109178.

<2> Clarke J., 2014, Archaeological Excavation on Land at Stoke Road, Ashton, Northamptonshire, April 214, p.4-6+12 (checked) (Report). SNN109940.

<3> Horne B. (Editor), 2014, South Midlands Archaeology (44), p. 39 (Journal). SNN109842.

Record last edited

Nov 16 2021 2:42PM