Monument record 2119/1 - Site of Roman villa and associated settlement, Priors Hall

Activity on site appeared to commence in the late 1st or early 2nd century with the laying out of a trackway and a series of enclosures. An extensive building or range of buildings lay to the west. To the east were further buildings, possibly including a bath house.

{3} Trial trenching identified an area of Roman occupation in three adjoining fields. A series of Roman linear ditches formed enclosures and trackways associated with buildings which were revealed in three trenches.

Activity appears to have commenced in the late 1st or early 2nd centuries AD with the laying out of the trackway and enclosures. Within the enclosures were buildings, probably constructed between the later 1st and later 3rd centuries AD, although investigation was limited so any conclusions are tentative. While one of the buildings was relatively plain and undecorated with a tile floor and roof, two other ranges were much more elaborate. At the east was a building within which wall plaster, glass and flue tile were recovered, indicating the presence of a heating system and, possibly, a bath house. To the west was the villa range. Although the precise layout of the villa range has not been established, the resitivity survey clearly indicates that it comprises an extensive building or range of buildings with a complex internal layout, occupying an area of at least 58m north-south and 32m east-west. The survey indicates that floors or areas of under-floor heating (hypocaust) may survive. At least one room was well-decorated with complex designs.

The site seems to have been in decline in the 3rd century and the buildings appear to have been abandoned and collapsed, or were demolished in the 4th century.

The large quantities of slag and furnace debris recovered from the east of the villa indicate that metalworking was taking place on an industrial scale close by. There was little evidence for agriculture; much of the bone seemed to derive from butchery or kitchen waste. The limited cereal remains may represent imported material rather than on site processing.

{5} Trial trench excavation was undertaken in order to further define the extent of a previously identified Roman villa complex and associated trackways. Few features were identified. A large pit containing abraded Roman artefacts may have been excavated in the medieval period and that the assemblage as a whole is the result of field clearance in the medieval and/ or early post-medieval period, when elements of the area was brought under agricultural cultivation.

<1> Shiel D.; Robertson F., 2004, Priors Hall, Corby: Geophysical Survey Report (Report). SNN105488.

<2> Butler A., 2011, Archaeological Geophysical Survey on Land at Priors Hall, Zone 3, Corby, Northamptonshire (Report). SNN108335.

<3> Jones C., 2011, Archaeological Evaluation on Land at Priors Hall, Zone 3, Corby, Northamptonshire December 2010 to February 2011, p. 8-9 (Report). SNN108336.

<4> Jones C., 2011, Archaeological Evaluation on Land at Priors Hall, Zone 3, Corby December 2010 to February 2011 Interim Report (Report). SNN108329.

<5> Moosbauer, A, 2018, Zone 3 Priors Hall Park, Corby, Northamptonshire: Archaeological Evaluation
Archaeological Evaluation (Report). SNN111394.

<6> Crank, N. (Editor), 2020, South Midlands Archaeology (50), p. 78-9 (Journal). SNN112426.

Record last edited

Jul 16 2024 8:49AM