Monument record 4150/0/2 - Roman enclosure and cremation burials near Gretton

{2} A small ditched enclosure, 30m wide, was identified in the geophysical survey, but only the western arm was located in the excavation.

Two single cremation burials were identified, both in small pits. One contained less than 1g of bone indicating that it had been heavily truncated, although there were some 70 nails in the deposit. The second was less heavily truncated. There were 13 nails in this deposit. A few sherds of pottery dated to the 2nd century AD. A further cremation burial was found during the later watching brief to the north. Examination of the geophysical survey results indicates the presence of a scatter of small pits across the area. It is likely that the three burials are part of a wider cemetery, but with the burials quite widely spaced. A Roman date has been suggested on the basis of the residual pottery and the absence of any Saxon grave goods, but the pottery only provides a terminus post-quem.

<1> Walford, J.; Butler, A.; Mudd, A. & Harding, J., 2006, AWS Empingham to Hannington Pipeline: Archaeological geophysical and metal detecting surveys Phase 1 August - September 2006 (Report). SNN108019.

<2> Carlyle S. Clarke, J. and Chapman, A., 2017, Iron Age, Roman and Anglo-Saxon settlement along the Empingham to Hannington Pipeline in Northamptonshire and Rutland, p. 49-51 (Monograph). SNN110605.

Record last edited

Jan 22 2024 11:48AM