Monument record 1641/2 - Intra-Mural Street System, Irchester Roman Town

A dendritic network of streets within the town walls, probably representing two phases of development- one pre-wall and a second following the construction of the wwalled defences.

{1} The main intramural road probably ran to the south through a gate identified by Baker in 1879 and recorded in section on a photograph of the A45 road cutting to the south. Its precise direction to the south, however, is little understood as it was not identified by Hall and Nickerson in their 1962 rescue work and has probably been destroyed by quarrying to the south of the A45.

{2} A detailed geophysical survey was undertaken of the entire walled area of the town. Features within the town are mostly arranged around the dendritic network of streets. These are indicated either by broad bands of ‘blank’ data, weak and diffuse negative anomalies, possibly derived from the presence of stone metalling, or between parallel positive anomalies suggesting the presence of roadside ditches. The present survey has confirmed the cropmark evidence for the roads within the town, and has added a few additional minor routes, along with some nuances to the character of some of the major routes. A central street runs from south to north, almost along the central axis of the town. Side roads branch off to the east and west, and at the northern end the main street forks to the north-east and north-west. At around 90m north of the southern defences, there is a major intersection, where five roads converge, and the space widens out to the east to form what could be construed as a public open space (Fig 4, P).
The roads within the walled area probably reflect two distinct periods of development: the first being elements of the road network that existed prior to the construction of the enclosing circuit of walls and the second being modifications and additions which might have occurred following the construction of the town walls. There are twelve routes that head directly for the wall circuit but it is unlikely that all were served by a gate. So it is possible that some were pre-existing roads that were truncated when the walls were constructed, whilst others may reflect later infilling to reach inaccessible areas of the walled interior. One way of exploring this option is to consider which routes can be traced beyond the circuit and which terminate within it.
There is an apparent, but narrow break in the wall along the southern side of the town, coinciding with the position of the main town street, which might be the location of a gateway (Fig 4, G2). However, no trace of a continuation of the main street has ever been observed to the south of the wall.
The road system comprises mainly sinuous roads, at least partly as a result of the presence of a pre-existing road network. However, to the immediate north-west of the public open space, P, two linear minor roads define the northern and western sides of a rectangular plot, c55m long by c35m wide, which sits in the angle of the roads leading to the putative western and southern gateways. This plot is therefore likely to be a creation within the plan of the walled town, and it appears to contain a row of five or six stone buildings.The earth resistance survey also reinforced the identification of the road network and the more substantial buildings, particularly the possible temple site (Fig 4, TC1). However, the major rectangular ditched enclosure (Fig 4, E1) in the south-western part of the town was only a weak low-resistance anomaly when compared to the roads, which were identified as high-resistance.
The roads within the wall circuit probably represent at least two phases of development, one pre-wall and a second following the construction of the wall (see Fig 4). Without excavation, it is difficult to identify the sequence of development as there are at least 13 routes heading towards the enclosing circuit. It is likely that some of these represent later infilling with roads that stopped before reaching the town wall, and some of the pre-existing roads will have been truncated by the circuit, as it is hard to imagine there being gates through the town walls at more than perhaps three locations. Even large towns, such as St Albans, would only have between three to five gateways.
On the balance of the evidence seen so far, it is likely that Irchester only ever had two main gates, one on its west side and one on its east. The north side probably did not have one because of the topographic problems mentioned above. The south side may not have had a gateway, as the original road route passed too close to the south-east
corner, although there is an anomaly at the point where the main street meets the town wall that may indicate the presence of a gateway, see below.

{3} Excavation revealed a metalled road surface comprising a slightly cambered series of limestone and gravel surfaces. Possible traces of wheel ruts were observed.

{4} Intra-Mural Road (Morphed Aerial Archaeology Interpretation). Crop/soilmark: Small scale excavation.

<1> Taylor J., 2000, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Irchester (Roman), Section 3.1 Communications (checked) (Digital archive). SNN100749.

<2> Butler A.; Meadows I.; Fisher I., 2010, Archaeological Geophysical Survey at Chester Farm, Irchester, Northamptonshire, p.7-10+14 Fig.4+5 (checked) (Report). SNN107215.

<3> Meadows I., 2012, Targeted Archaeological Excavations at Chester Farm, Irchester, Northamptonshire September 2011 (Report). SNN108094.

<4> Northamptonshire SMR Collection of Aerial Photographs, Used with NMR & CUCAP collections (Photographs). SNN104822.

Record last edited

May 19 2023 10:09AM