Monument record 3231 - Iron Age/Romano-British Settlement, north-east of Vicarage Farm

Enclosures and hut circles shown on air photographs and finds of Roman pottery indicate a settlement. A complex of conjoined rectangular ditched enclosures of probable Roman date is visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs located in a field immediately north of Vicarage Farm. A rectangular ditch up to 3.5 metres wide encloses an area about 59 metres E-W and 42 metres N-S, though the latter is not the full extent as the southern part of the feature have been truncated by the field boundary and farm buildings and are not visible in the field to the south. Within the enclosure it is further subdivided into at least six rectangular enclosures of various sizes.

{1} FLDWALKING;L'STONE & RB POT SHERDS;(?);<REFDUMP PRN1312>;

{4} Cropmarks of an enclosure found by St Joseph using aerial photography at (SP) 904645 in the parish of Wollaston.

{5} The site is under crop. Mr Hall said he has found a few scraps of Roman pottery and some limestone here.

{6} Roman settlement (SP 904645) and immediately E. of Vicarage Farm, on sand at 62m above O.D. Air photographs show a rectangular ditched enclosure divided into a number of internal compartments. There are also indications of another enclosure attached to its N side. Fragments of two pennanular ditches within the main enclosure may represent hut sites. Further S. there are two intersecting linear ditches.

{7} As described above at (3), a complex of conjoined rectangular ditched enclosures of probable Roman date is visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs and was mapped as part of the Bedford Borough NMP project. Located in a field immediately north of Vicarage Farm and centred at SP 90382 64488, a rectangular ditch up to 3.5 metres wide encloses an area about 59 metres E-W and 42 metres N-S, though the latter is not the full extent as the southern part of the feature have been truncated by the field boundary and farm buildings and are not visible in the field to the south. Within the enclosure it is further subdivided into at least six rectangular enclosures of various sizes. In the field to the south is a 1.8 metres wide linear ditch extending 64 metres NNW-SSE, though its association with the enclosures is uncertain and may be modern in origin.

<1> Young S., 1994, Fieldwalking Survey of Romano-British Sites, (checked) (Gazetteer). SNN54726.

<2> Rees G., 2008, Enclosure Boundaries and Settlement Individuality in The Iron Age, (unchecked) (Article). SNN106040.

<3> Northamptonshire SMR Collection of Aerial Photographs, NCC AP: SP9064/001, 005, 018, 019, 020, 023-025 (Aerial Photograph(s)). SNN104822.

<4> Hall D.N., 1966, Sites on the North Bedfordshire and South Northamptonshire border, Page 6 (Article). SNN37934.

<5> Seaman, B H, 1970, Field Investigator's Comments, 4/Aug (Notes). SNN111541.

<6> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1981, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, Page 176 (Series). SNN77381.

<7> Info Terra Ltd; Blue Sky; Tele Atlas, Google Earth Imagery, EARTH.GOOGLE.COM 26-JUN-2005 ACCESSED 25-MAR-2019 (Aerial Photograph(s)). SNN112277.

<8> Bedford Borough Council HER, Undated, Bedford Borough NMP, MD003015 (Archive). SNN113023.

Record last edited

Feb 7 2025 2:36PM