Monument record 8804/1 - Roman roadside settlement along Watling Street, Night Owl Truck Stop

Trial trench excavation identified probable Roman ditched plots/enclosures laid out along Watling Street. The earliest boundaries dated to the 1st or 2nd centuries which were replaced by larger boundary ditches, the fills of which contained possible evidence for buildings

{1} Trial trench excavation at the Night Owl Truck Stop found archaeological remains comprising Roman enclosures and sub-divisions, containing evidence for domestic activity, situated in the western part of the site adjacent to Watling Street. The activity appeared to extend no more than 50m back from the alignment of the current course of the road.
The earliest activity comprisied two east-west aligned ditches broadly perpendicular to the road. The primary fills contained exclusively 1st or 2nd century assemblages. Subsequently a series of larger boundary ditches were laid out, possibly enclosing a rectilinear plot aligned north-south parallel with Watling Street. Where the primary fill was excavated, late 2nd to 4th century material was recovered. Evidence of former structures was found in the ditch fills and included fragmented stone rubble and occasional fragments of roof tile. Features inside the enclosure may have been internal divisions.
Two environmental samples contained no plant macrofossils and small amounts of charcoal.

<1> Streatfeild-James, J., 2015, Night Owl Truck Stop, Watling Street, Lilbourne, Northamptonshire: Archaeological Evaluation, November 2015 (Report). SNN110976.

<2> Crank, N. (Editor), 2018, South Midlands Archaeology (48), p. 58 (Journal). SNN111393.

<3> Cotswold Archaeology, 2022, Site Data from an Archaeological Evaluation at Night Owl Truck Stop, Watling Street, Lilbourne 2015, https://doi.org/10.5284/1095486 (Digital archive). SNN114245.

Record last edited

Sep 24 2024 2:43PM