Monument record 1767/2/6 - Romano-British round house and associated trackway

{1} A roundhouse c.9.5m in diameter. Its construction was highly distinctive. A circular hollow was dug into the Phase lIb courtyard (HER ref 1767/2/4). A three-quarter annular foundation trench was then cut around the outer edge of the pit, with the ‘open’ side facing N. This gap was filled with a single course of very large limestone blocks. The pitched foundations were overlain by a single course of tabula limestone masonry, only surviving on the E side of the structure. The exterior face was carefully finished to give an even surface, but the interior face was uneven. The hollow area within the foundations was filled with pitched stones up to 0.3m deep.
A single post setting was found in the centre. It was c.0.7m in diameter, and 0.2m deep. The void left by the rotted timber was filled with limestone rubble. Fragments of a limestone pavement were noted around the posthole.
The entrance, 2.7m wide, was bonded in with a limestone trackway/ramp. This was 7.4m long (N-S). The surface was 2.7m wide, narrowing slightly to 2.4m at the N balk. A foundation trench up to 0.25m deep had been dug for the trackway. The foundations consisted of pitched limestone blocks, although the join with the entrance to the structure was faced with five courses of tabula masonry.
The foundations of the round house and ramp were bonded together.
A trackway aligned on the entrance to the round house was found approx 20m to the north. The cambered surface was 1.75m wide here, although there may have been some erosion of the sides.

The very wide doorway and associated trackway/ramp may indicate an agricultural function.

<1> OXFORD ARCHAEOLOGICAL UNIT, 1992, Redlands Farm, Stanwick: Site Narrative, p.51-2, 63 (checked) (Report). SNN69021.

<2> OXFORD ARCHAEOLOGICAL UNIT, 1992, Redlands Farm, Stanwick, Northamptonshire: Post-Excavation Assessment, (unchecked) (Report). SNN75157.

<3> Keevill G.D. & Booth, P., 1997, Settlement, sequence and structure: Romano-British stone-built roundhouses at Redlands Farm, Stanwick (Northants), and Alchester (Oxon) (Article). SNN111333.

Record last edited

Jan 9 2019 12:28PM