Monument record 1851 - Possible Romano-British Settlement &/or Field System

Trial trench excavation identified a few ditches and gullies containing small quantities of pottery and other artefacts suggesting that they lay on the edge of a wider settlement or were part of a field system located some distance from settlement.

{1} Geophysical survey identified a number of positive anomalies, the general layout of which would be consistent with a track and adjacent field enclosures of Iron Age or Romano-British date.

{2} Trial trench excavation identified a small number of features. T13 contained two parallel ditches and two gullies. The parallel ditches were located at the west end of the trench, aligned north to south and 1.35m apart.
The westernmost ditch had a U-shaped profile, 0.90m wide x 0.34m deep. It was cut by a U-shaped gully aligned north-east to south-west, 0.50m wide x 0.21m deep. The fill of the gully contained a dump of large sandstone cobbles, some with burnt sides.
The easternmost of the parallel ditches was 1.65m wide and not excavated due to the very wet ground conditions. Its fill also contained a dump of large sandstone cobbles, nearly all of which were burnt.
The relationship between the larger ditch and the two small gullies was unclear due to the wet conditions. They may have drained into it or cut it.
These ditches correspond to a number of anomalies identified during geophysical survey.

T14 contained three ditches of similar size, shape and depth, and a gully.
At the north end of the trench were two parallel ditches 0.55m apart and aligned roughly east to west. The most northerly ditch had a V-shaped profile, 1.47m wide x 0.56m deep. Its upper fill contained two sherds of Roman Samian pottery and a single cattle tooth. The southernmost of the two ditches was also V-shaped, 1.61m wide x 0.58m deep, and its primary fill contained a sherd of Roman greyware.
Towards the south end of the trench was a third V-shaped ditch, aligned east to west, 1.23m wide x 0.63m deep. Its primary fill contained two sherds of haematite and quartz tempered Roman pottery. The upper fill contained a sherd of grog tempered oxidised Roman pottery.
The ditch corresponds to anomalies identified during the geophysical survey.

The small number of artefacts from the site may indicate either a general low level of activity, consistent with ditches bounding a working field system, or features lying on the periphery of more extensive settlement beyond the trenching. The parallel ditches suggest single maintained boundaries on a common alignment, rather than a single phase of double-ditched boundary. The geophysics suggests that the arrangement of ditches is likely to be part of a wider landscape of ditched trackways.

<1> Walford, J., 2009, An archaeological geophysical survey at Winwick Warren, Northamptonshire September 2009 (Report). SNN107966.

<2> Foard-Colby A., 2010, Archaeological Trial Trench Evaluation at Winwick Warren Farm, Northamptonshire (Report). SNN107965.

Record last edited

Jun 24 2021 9:25AM