Monument record 3507/1/9 - Middle Roman settlement ('Settlement 8'), South of Hardwater Road

[Part of the Wollaston Quarry project] The main extent of Settlement 8 was examined by excavation and its field system was recorded as part of the watching brief. A middle Roman settlement with a large enclosure, structures, burials, and a pit alignment. In the 4th century, the area was completely replanned into a gridded enclosure and field system used for domestic and agricultural purposes. A routeway connected the site to other settlements, and nearby cremations were also recorded.

{1} Archaeological investigation undertaken ahead of gravel quarrying in the 1990s identified an extensive landscape of multi-period occupation. The main extent of Settlement 8 was examined by excavation and its field system was recorded as part of the watching brief. The only prehistoric feature found within the area was the pit alignment which was recorded within the southern part of the later settlement area aligned north-east to south-west flanking a later trackway. The settlement started in the middle Roman period. A large sub-rectangular enclosure extended over most of the settlement area and internally measured 64m by 55m. It was located on the same alignment as the pit alignment. Within the enclosure, there was a beam slot structure within the south-western part of the enclosure over a 7.5m by 4m area. This structure partly survived and the remains formed a L-shaped remnant which consisted of three separate slots and two postholes between the slots. Directly to the north-west, west and south-west of the slot structure were four burials (three human burials and a dog burial) and a pit. A few other post holes and pits were scattered across the interior of enclosure 6.1 but these did not form any coherent plans for structures. Various ditches butted up to enclosure 6.1 on its southwestern, western and northern sides. Enclosure 6.2 was on its south-western side and this created an area 40m by up to 12m directly beyond enclosure 6.1. Two ditches extended perpendicular to enclosure 6.1 on its western side. On its northwestern extent, there was a curvilinear ditch recorded over a distance of more than 50m. The function of these three later ditches were uncertain. There were up to five ditches (four were presumably recuts) directly to south-east of enclosure 6.1. It is possible these were part of a routeway which was recorded over some 2km upto Settlement 1 to the north-east.

In the 4th century, there was a complete replanning of Settlement 8 with all the middle Roman features had gone out of use. Sub-rectangular gridded enclosure/compartmentalised field system was created which seemingly had both a domestic and agricultural use. The former main middle Roman routeway on the southeastern side of the settlement was recut in the late Roman period and formed part of a routeway which was recorded over some 2km up to Settlement 1 to the north-east. The enclosure and field system led from this routeway. There was a sub-rectangular gridded enclosure/compartmentalised field sysem aligned north-west to south-east and was 75m by 70m in area. There were upto 11 internal interlinked units which were sub-rectangular in shape. It is likely that area A was a domestic area with the other areas being paddocks or used for stock holding. Two entrances can be seen in the excavation plan entering into this one complex, one on the western side by a routeway and the other on the eastern side by a routeway from the Roman Road. Internally several entranceways could be seen linking the various paddocks although in a few cases the internal layout was too fragmentary to indicate these details. Leading off the main routeway there was an internal routeway which was parallel to and had to access into the enclosure. It was upto 4m wide and more than 81m long. A timber slot building lay at the western extent which survived as an L-shaped structure 4.6m by 5m. Phosphate analysis has shown the southern half of this building and the area to the east of it had relatively high phosphate levels which may suggest the southern half of the building may have served as a byre or midden. A large oval well/watering hole, 7m by 4m in size, lay 5m to the east of the structure. The feature was accessed from one side down a ramp with a stone platform in the base. The top area of the well was analysed in a soil analysis report and this showed it had lower concentrations of phosphorous than the surrounding areas which may mean the area was deliberately kept clear of midden waste. The northern part of the gridded enclosure/compartmentalised field system was entered from a routeway on the north-western side. Here, there were eight paddocks/holding areas which ranged from area F at 22m by 16m in size to area D at 42m by 4m. Chemical analysis of Area E and the area had directly to the south of its southern boundary had very high concentration of phosphorus, suggesting it may also have contained part of a midden.

The routeway which led to the gridded enclosure/compartmentalised field system also accessed a large probable sub-rectangular field directly to the north which measured 91m by 76m. A further routeway lay directly to the north of this field. This routeway presumably led from the main routeway to the east and was seen for 112m aligned north-west to south-east and measured between 11m and 16m wide. Other probable fields lay on either side of this routeway. No internal features were recorded within this area. Two undated cremations were recorded near Settlement 8, one lay less than 20m to the north-east and the other 40m to the south-west.

<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.45-51 (Monograph). SNN116677.

<2> Ruiz, Z, Brown, A and Langdon, P G, 2006, The potential of chironomid (Insecta: Diptera) larvae in archaeological investigations of floodplain and lake settlements (Article). SNN116981.

Record last edited

Jan 27 2026 9:57AM