Monument record 725/1/17 - Length of Roman road, possibly the Alchester Road

A short length of road was excavated. Located to the east of the projected alignment of the Alchester Road, but probably too well-constructed to be a minor road

{1} A short section of road, F6, 6m long and 5.0m wide with a noticeable camber, sloping slightly to the east for most of its width. This implies that the full width of the road could have been around 9m, continuing to the
west beyond the excavated area. The road surface was fragmentary. Beneath the main road surfaces a thin layer of fairly clean brown silty sands lay on the natural geology. It is not clear whether this layer was a buried soil or whether it was laid down as part of the road construction. Pottery from this layer is dated to the late 1st or early 2nd centuries, and includes a fragment of samian which dated to around 85-110 AD, giving a possible terminus post quem for the construction of the road. Large cobbles, 130mm across, set in brown loamy silt, made up 85% of the lowest layer of road construction. Above the cobbles were at least two lenses of orange-brown silty sands with gravel. Sitting above this was what seemed to be the earliest actual road surface,
a layer of gravels and cobbles, up to 80mm across, mixed with an orange-brown sandy loam. The later, final road surface comprised 75% smaller cobbles and gravel up to 40mm, as well as a few cobbles measuring up to 150mm. The two were separated by lenses of brown loamy silts. Pottery found in the lenses of the road
make-up, other than the earliest layer, could not be closely dated, but generally appeared to derive from the 2nd century. Pottery found in the uppermost road surface may have dated to the later 2nd century.

<1> Thompson, A. & Chapman, P., 2013, Roman settlement and Burial at Water Lane, Towcester, Northamptonshire Excavations 1997-98 (Report). SNN108517.

<2> Thompson, A. & Chapman, P., 2013, Roman settlement and Burial at Water Lane, Towcester, Northamptonshire Excavations 1997-98 Appendices (Report). SNN108519.

Record last edited

Oct 19 2017 12:27PM