Monument record 2179/1 - Roman settlement, west of Hemington Water Tower

Finds of 3rd to 4th century pottery, bones, oyster shells and a limestone scatter suggests the possible site of a Roman settlement. Excavation of two small trenches in 1990 uncovered a rectangular building, 4.2m by 7m, and traces of other buildings dated to the 4th century AD. Interpreted as a possible Roman villa.

{1} Fieldwalking revealed an area extending from 20m south of the hedge separating the existing ploughed field from the Barnwell-Hemington road and approximately the same distance from the hedge dividing the field from the property of the Anglia Water Company, as a heavily occupied Romano-British site. For some 200m to the west and 150m to the south the field is littered with bits of limestone building material. Pottery fragments and Roman brick are scarce, but metal detecting recovered two coins, a very worn sesterius of Antoninus Pius (138-161) and a broken 2AE of Constantine (306-337) 'Camp Gates' (c.335, but mint lost). The site had been heavily ploughed over the years, and except where a ditch was discovered the archaeological layer was no more than 30cm deep, sandwiched between the bottom of the plough and natural clay, which was encountered less than one metre below the surface. Much of the upper archaeological level containing postholes of the latest building on the site chosen for excavation had been ploughed away.

Archaeological excavation identified a poorly constructed rectangular building approx. 16.75m long & 3.6m wide with three compartments. Oriented N-S. Foundations of stone cross-walls found, though disturbed by robbing. Heavy limestone cobbling outside N-W corner. At the S-E corner of the building was a rectangular area paved by limestone stones - poss. Foundation for external stairway. Construction was irregular excepting N-W corner where walls were wider , more regular & defined. No traces of mortar found - prob held together by clay & lime mix. Traces of yellow-orange clay on inner faces of some building stone. Evidence of re-use of materials from earlier buildings.Some limestone was shaped & frags of roofing & hypocaust tiles found in wall foundations.
Evidence of entrance on west side, poss entrance also on N-E corner. Whole west wall - evidence of severe burning extending into rooms. Flagstones were reddened by fire.
4 main phases of occupation were identified.
No evidence of domestic occupation. Store house for grain seens likely. May have been one of a number of buildings on site;

About 35m to west of previous excavation another building was found; a concentrated area of limestone clunch was found, roughly square in shape 5.50m by 6.20m; on the south side, the clunch consisted of larger blocks forming a small semicircular projection of 1m in front of the remainder of the foundations; apart from a pit and a robbed out wall no other features were found in connection with this building; a sump within the building was a possible latrine; at the south east corner of the building the foundations had been sunk into what was probably a rubbish pit; there were no signs for either internal or external walls for this building; since the building was situated on the highest point in the area, it could have been a watch tower and the projection on the south side may have been the foundation for a small bastion; the relatively small amount of pottery points to a mid to late fourth century occupation; more buildings are likely to be found in the area;

{2}Fieldwalking; Roman pot sherds were found including Nene Valley Ware; they mainly dated to the 3rd and 4th centuries; bones, oyster shell and limestone rubble were also found;

{3} Large pieces of limestone, Roman pottery, bone and oyster shell were found in a restricted area in the north east corner of the field.

{7} Debris as described above indicative of a small occupation site seen in the indicated area.

{8} NH 12 Listed as the possible site of a Roman villa.

<1> Rev. Prof. W.H.C. Frend, 1996-7, A Romano British site at Hemington Water Tower, near Oundle, p. 157-165 (Article). SNN100057.

<2> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1975, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, P. 12/ Site 2 (checked) (Series). SNN77379.

<3> Brown, A.E. (Ed.), 1967, Archaeology in Northamptonshire 1966/67 (Roman), p.7 (checked) (Article). SNN58197.

<4> Ordnance Survey, 1950s/1960s, Ordnance Survey Record Cards, TL08SE5(unchecked) (Index). SNN443.

<5> Taylor J., 1996, Iron Age and Roman Landscapes in The East Midlands: A Case Study in Integrated Survey, (unchecked) (Thesis). SNN108195.

<6> Young S., 1994, Fieldwalking Survey of Romano-British Sites, (checked) (Gazetteer). SNN54726.

<7> Seaman, BH, 1969, Field investigators comments, F1 BHS 05-SEP-69 (Notes). SNN111907.

<8> Scott, E., 1993, A gazetteer of Roman villas in Britain, p. 140, NH 12 (Monograph). SNN110345.

<9> Frere, S S, and Tomlin, R S O, 1991, Roman Britain in 1990: Sites explored, p. 252 (Article). SNN113642.

Record last edited

Feb 7 2025 2:25PM