Monument record 2409/0/10 - Roman road, Ashton

Metalled street aligned NNE-SSW excavated by the Middle Nene Archaeology Group and Northamptonshire Archaeology Unit. The road was 6.5m wide with various phases of modification and resurfacing. It appears to head towards the Nene to the south, probably to a crossing.

{1}Series of streets & properties excavated

{4}Streets & properties located

{5} Ashton has a very extensive and complex network of roads and track ways similar in overall layout to those at Irchester and Titchmarsh. The primary route appears to be a straight axial road towards a probable river crossing of the Nene that joins the main Durobrivae to Titchmarsh road along the southern side of the Nene near Warmington (2409/0/10). Excavations along its course suggest that it was formally defined by ditched enclosure boundaries in the mid-first century AD and became a focal point for all subsequent settlement in this part of the town.

Where and indeed if the main crossed the river is still not known but projecting its line would suggest a crossing immediately to the south west of the current Ashton Road around TL047886. Tha absence of any significant archaeological intervention along the flood plain to date also means there is as yet no evidence for possible riverine communication or transport facilities.

{6} The main road was 6.5m wide with several phases of metalling and patching. The earliest surfcae observed in the first season consisted of flat, well-worn slabs of local limestone, some of which showed evidence of burning. Gravel and a mortar-like substance was used as aggregate in places. The cropmark of the road was only evidennt in one field and ran from the A605 for 200m towards a bend in the river Nene. In the opposite direction an agger on a slightly different alignment crosses a field some 400m distant.

<1> DIX B., 1988, SMR REPORT FORM, (unchecked) (Note). SNN49557.

<2> DIX B., 1985, OUNDLE BY-PASS, (unchecked) (Discussion). SNN59042.

<3> DIX B., 1983, Ashton Roman Town, (unchecked) (Leaflet). SNN59015.

<4> DIX B., Ashton Roman Town, (checked) (Note). SNN44372.

<5> Taylor J., 2002, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Ashton (Roman), Section 3.1 Communications (checked) (Digital archive). SNN103116.

<6> Wild, J.P. (ed.), 1975, Durobrivae: A Review of Nene Valley Archaeology (Vol.3) (Journal). SNN59033.

Record last edited

Sep 29 2026 1:35PM