Monument record 3507/1/7 - Roman settlement ('Settlement 6'), South of Hardwater Road

Settlement 6 was a middle to late Roman site situated along a north-east to south-west routeway, showing continuity with an earlier boundary feature. It featured a distinctive ‘ladder’ type arrangement of compartmentalised enclosures on both sides of the road, likely used for stock holding, with the western side being more extensive and better preserved. The area also included field systems and a second routeway. [Part of the Wollaston Quarry project]

{1} Archaeological excavation undertaken ahead of gravel quarrying in the 1990s identified an extensive landscape of multi-period occupation. Settlement 6 comprised a middle to late Roman settlement flanking both sides of a routeway which was examined as part of the watching brief. The routeway was aligned north-east to south-west and was recorded over a c200m distance. It followed the alignment of a middle Bronze Age to early Iron Age pit alignment, which may show continuity of this boundary.

The settlement was seemingly established in the middle Roman period but the remains were empheral and fragmentary. The middle Roman routeway had been recut in the late Roman period in roughly the same location. A ‘ladder’ type arrangement of features were located opposite each other fronting either side of this routeway. A field system to the north was demarcated by a boundary ditch which led from the northern ladder system which it abutted a second routeway. In this area the routeway had been divided into two with the western half leading into the western ladder type arrangement. On the eastern side of the routeway and fronting onto it was a ladder type gridded enclosure/ compartmentalised arrangement over a c60m by c21m area. There were at least three internal interlinked compartmentalised areas which were sub-rectangular in shape. It is likely most of these areas were paddocks or stock holding areas.

The western ladder type arrangement was similar to the eastern example, but was much more extensive and survived with a clear plan. The western gridded enclosure/compartmentalised arrangement fronted the routeway for a c115m distance and was c36m wide. The western gridded enclosure/compartmentalised arrangement fronted the routeway for a c115m distance and was c36m wide. There were 12 internal interlinked compartmentalised areas, which were sub-rectangular in shape. The northern half of the western ladder system was connected to the routeway by a long corral style arrangement. Three separate fields have been tentatively recorded as located immediately to the north, west and south of the western ladder type arrangement. A second routeway was recorded more than 90m to the south-west of the western ladder type arrangement. The routeway was traced over a c140m distance. It was between c6.0m and c3.5m wide and was aligned north west to south-east.

<1> Atkins, R and Meadows, I, 2024, Neolithic pits, late Bronze Age/early Iron Age pit alignments and Iron Age to Roman settlements at Wollaston Quarry, Northamptonshire, P.42-45 (Monograph). SNN116677.

Record last edited

Jan 28 2026 2:25PM