Monument record 1 - Blacklands Romano-British Town

An undefended Roman small town. There has been very little excavation. The settlement probably first developed in the Iron Age around a cluster of enclosures to the south west of the Roman focus that covered an area of at least 4ha. The Roman settlement developed partly around a local road junction but predominantly along some 500m of the Lower Ley to Brackley route. Recent aerial photography reveals the cropmarks of this site. Primarily visible in the western half of the field (north east of Twyford Barn Farm, around SP 4910 3740) are at least four probable hut circles as well as pits, enclosures and linear features, representing a Prehistoric or Roman settlement site. At SP 4932 3744 are the cropmarks of an east-west road (with southern side roads) and probable buildings, probably a Roman settlement site, possibly a villa.

{1} The fieldwalking evidence confirms the concentration of Iron Age occupation in the south west part of the site, and shows it to extend beyond the present field boundaries to, and probably beyond, the scarp edge to the south. It does not, however, extend west or north.
The fieldwalking indicates that Roman occupation does not extend to the west of Blacklands, but does extend some 50m further north, suggesting the north westward extension of the main road, possibly associated with stone structures. Within Blacklands the Roman surface finds are concentrated in the northern and western halves of the field, coinciding with intensive stone scatters indicating a series of stone buildings lining the main road, with other structures lying to the north along the road running north east from the site, and also to the south where another side road is suggested by the cropmarks.
Both the extent and the nature of the settlement evidence show the site to be one of the so-called unwalled ‘small towns’, of which only five certain examples exist in Northamptonshire. These settlements would appear to represent the fourth and lowest tier of urban settlement in Roman Britain, below the walled “small towns’, the Civitas capitals and the larger ‘cities’. This unwalled class of settlement is poorly understood, but would appear to represent small commercial and craft industry centres serving the local community within a radius of some 10km.
It will be seen therefore that Blacklands (Kings Sutton) represents a relatively well preserved example of an uncommon and important class of Roman settlement. This particular site may have an additional significance. The presence of an extensive Iron Age settlement may indicate that, unlike many of the sites of similar status, it was an important local centre prior to the Roman Conquest. Secondly, it would appear to be near the centre of a major Saxon territory, later focused on the village of Kings Sutton, and so this may indicate an important degree of continuity between the Roman and Saxon periods.

{2} (SP 495376) Romano British Settlement (GS)

{4} The name Blacklands is still in local useage and applies to the field centred SP49283750.

{5} Essentially the settlement was focused along the suggested Lower Ley to Brackley road with some limited additional development along small, localised track ways.
Kings Sutton is one of the 14 nucleated settlements incorporated within the current survey that acted as local or regional centres in the Roman period. Located roughly midway between the roadside settlement at Lower Ley in Oxfordshire and Brackley to the east, Kings Sutton is probably one of the smaller nucleated settlements in the county (c.8-12ha) and probably acted as a local centre at the junction of a minor road and a previously unremarked route through the south west of the county linking the Towcester-Alchester road with the Fosse Way.
Virtually no excavation has been carried out on the site and currently our understanding of it is largely dependent upon aerial photographic evidence and two limited field walking surveys. These suggest that the settlement probably first developed in the Iron Age around a cluster of enclosures to the south west of the Roman focus that covered an area of at least 4ha. The Roman settlement developed partly around a local road junction but predominantly along some 500m of the Lower Ley to Brackley route. Like a number of the Nene valley towns Kings Sutton may have owed its existence to the strategic advantage of its location on the road network and to the wealth of its surrounding agricultural landscapes.
The settlement’s layout may derive from a shift in occupation (the date of which is unknown) some 100m north east to form a ribbon development along a newly established through route around a local road junction. Seemingly extensively occupied by the second century AD, the developed plan of the settlement is still poorly understood and may well extend further north and east than is currently known.
In the absence of excavation, or even an analysis of the existing field walked material, little can be said about the settlement’s historical development. The aerial photographic information suggests that the settlement consisted of a series of irregularly shaped ditched enclosures laid out to either side of the main roads within which may have stood stone buildings of uncertain form fronting onto the main road. In the central area of the settlement within Blacklands the superimposition of enclosures indicates a long and more complex sequence to development. Nineteenth century records by Baker (1822, 703) and Beesely (1841, 33) both note the discovery of inhumations in rough stone cists and may imply the presence of a cemetery that is unfortunately not accurately located.
Though only a preliminary judgement the present evidence suggests that Kings Sutton is likely to be a further example of a small group of unwalled nucleated roadside settlements from the county similar to those now largely destroyed at Duston and Kettering.

{7} Aerial photography 1981, cropmarks of Romano-British town.

{8} In 1859 a paper on ironworking in the Rockingham Forest area, read by the Rev Trollope to the Association of Architectural Societies at Stamford described the site as ' Blacklands where the soil is still darkened by charcoal, ashes and slag of the Roman furnaces once existent there'.

{10} Antiquarian notes by Baker (1822) and Beesley (1841) record a total of eight inhumations of probable Roman date aligned east to west. These may be part of an otherwise unrecorded cemetery but equally could be the remains of a series of back plot burials of the kind found at Ashton. Unfortunately neither group of burials is accurately located and so at present it is impossible to determine which interpretation is more probable. The presence of cists or stone linings in a number of the graves suggests they are likely to be later Roman or possibly even post Roman in date. The absence of evaluation around the fringes of the settlement means that the existence of cemeteries associated with the settlement cannot be ruled out. It is possible that one lay beside the east to west road towards the fringes of the settlement or to the northeast in as yet uninvestigated areas.
The large maculae of probable pits or wells recorded on the aerial photographic plots largely lie within the area of Iron Age occupation and towards the northern fringe of the Roman settlement. These may provide localised deposits of high potential but may provide little agricultural or environmental information if as elsewhere they were dug for sand and gravel and rapidly backfilled after use.

{13} A Roman small town lies 800m to the north of the site, but little investigation has been undertaken.

{14} Prehistoric and Roman settlement in the north-west of the parish on Marlstone Rock sloping south-west to the River Cherwell. The areas covers some 20ha and is known as Blacklands. It has long been known as an area of Roman settlement for Morton recorded 'Roman money' from Blacklands Furlong {14}. Before 1825 skeletons 'in rude cists of sarsen stones' were found in the area and in 1825 a 'cinerary urn' containing a cremation, two other skeletons and coins of Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius were discovered {15}. Before 1841 Roman coins, including some silver ones, foundations of buildings, mill-stones and at least four more skeletons with 'rough headstones' were found and the existence of cropmarks was noted. In the west part of the site a skeleton associated with a bone pin and a 'celt of serpentine' is also recorded {16}. A fragment of bronze, possibly part of a spearhead, was ploughed up in 1964 to the north of the site. Recent fieldwalking has produced Roman pottery over a wide area but concentrated mainly at the west end of the site. This pottery is mainly of 3rd to 4th-century date. Air photographs show, rather indistinctly, at least five small circular features, as well as a number of ditches which are probably parts of enclosures. Another cropmark visible on air photographs passes to the north of the site and is described as an early road. It appears to be an abandoned ironstone tramway.

{15} Blackland's Piece, 1/2 mile SW of the two tumuli (SP 53 NW 14) is an arable field with dark soil. Skeletons have been found at various times, their heads to the E, in "rude cists of sarson stones". In 1825 a cinerary urn of reddish material filled with burnt bones and earth was found, with a stone placed over its mouth. Nearby were coins of Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius. Two yards from the urn were three skeletons.

{16} The field of Blackland measures 10 acres, but the dark colour prevails over much land southwards, giving a total area of 20 or 30 acres. Large brass and silver coins have been found, also numerous foundation walls of squared stones, with millstones and clinkers. Four skeletons with rough head stones, heads to the W have been found in the red field N of the road and NW of Blacklands. In an adjoining field, W of Blacklands a skeleton was found in a cistern with a bone pin and a "celt of scapentine" (both illus in 4) Cropmarks "giving the appearance of the foundation of an ancient road being below" have been noted by the farmer. Urns, ashes and coins have been found between Blackland and Astrop.

{18} SP491374. Large irregular enclosure within which are several small circles. Seen on aerial photos in 1972.

{19} Mr Cherry (owner/farmer Kings Sutton Lodge) has found and retained a large number of RB sherds over the past seven years during general agriculture but he knows of no archaeological excavation ever having taken place. The finds were made over a wide area but Mr Cherry states the main concentration to have been at SP 49153755. The name Blacklands is still in local useage and applies to the field centred to SP 49283750. The pottery is mainly grey in colour coated ware of common local type dateable to the 3rd and 5th c. There is no outstanding material. Neither Northampton Museum or Mr Cherry have knowledge of the earlier finds.

{20} OX 33 Listed as the possible site of a Roman villa.

{21} Recent aerial photography {22} reveals the cropmarks of this site. Primarily visible in the western half of the field (north east of Twyford Barn Farm, around SP 4910 3740) are at least four probable hut circles as well as pits, enclosures and linear features, representing a Prehistoric or Roman settlement site. At SP 4932 3744 are the cropmarks of an east-west road (with southern side roads) and probable buildings, probably a Roman settlement site, possibly a villa.

<1> Foard, G.R., 1983, Kings Sutton, Blacklands: Archaeological Report, (checked) (Unpublished Report). SNN56202.

<2> Ordnance Survey Map (Scale/date), 6" 1955 (Map). SNN112944.

<3> 1983, Miscellaneous Plans, (unchecked) (Plan). SNN56204.

<4> Ordnance Survey, 1950s/1960s, Ordnance Survey Record Cards, SP43NE1(1) (checked) (Index). SNN443.

<6> Bellamy B.; Jackson D.; Johnston G., 2000-01, Early Iron Smelting in the Rockingham Forest Area: A Survey of the Evidence, p.103-128 (unchecked) (Article). SNN103947.

<7> 1982, Aerial Photography in Northamptonshire 1981, p.110 Kings Sutton (checked) (Journal). SNN104561.

<8> TROLLOPE E., 1859-60, Associated Architectural Socities Reports and Papers, p.99 (unchecked) (Journal). SNN103499.

<9> Pevsner N.; Cherry B., 1973, The Buildings of England: Northamptonshire, p.279 (unchecked) (Series). SNN1320.

<10> Taylor, J., 2002, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Kings Sutton (Roman), Section 3.5.2 Cemetery (checked) (Digital archive). SNN103114.

<10> Taylor, J., 2002, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Kings Sutton, (unchecked) (Report). SNN103122.

<11> Brindle, T., 2008, Northamptonshire (Draft), (unchecked) (Chapter). SNN106263.

<12> Ashmolean Museum Accession Register, (unchecked) (Catalogue). SNN10110.

<13> Walker C., 2013, Archaeological Desk-Based Heritage Assessment of Land at Wales Street, Kings Sutton, Northamptonshire, (part checked) (Report). SNN109864.

<14> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1982, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.93 site 6 (checked) (Series). SNN77382.

<15> Baker G., 1830, The History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire, p.703 (unchecked) (Book). SNN77327.

<16> Beesley J., 1841, History of Banbury, p.33 (unchecked) (Book). SNN280.

<17> Morton J., 1712, The Natural History of Northamptonshire, p.531 (unchecked) (Book). SNN10113.

<18> Brown A.E. (Editor), 1973, Air Photography Report, 8/26 (checked) (Journal). SNN19558.

<19> Baird, J., 1970, Field investigators comments, F1 JB 22-APR-70 (Notes). SNN110341.

<20> Scott, E., 1993, A gazetteer of Roman villas in Britain, p. 160 (Monograph). SNN110345.

<21> RCHME, 1996, RCHME Aerial Reconniassance/18-JUL-1996 (Aerial Photograph(s)). SNN112740.

<22> Oblique Aerial Photograph, NMR, SP 4937/23-26 (Aerial Photograph(s)). SNN111738.

Record last edited

Jan 31 2025 1:54PM