Monument record 4946 - Roman Town at Duston

A Roman settlement lay on either side of the Weedon Road. The precise or even general nature of the settlement at Duston will probably never be known since detailed archaeological records were not made during the period of ironstone quarrying. It would appear, however, that the settlement covered at least 20 acres. The evidence certainly points to fairly extensive settlement before AD 60 and at least some occupation before AD 43. The nature and extent of the pre-Conquest settlement is, however, uncertain as it is that immediately after the Conquest. There is nothing specifically military among the finds yet the situation of Duston mid-way between Bannaventa and Irchester suggests that a military presence is at least a possibility. Excavations to the S. of Weedon Road recovered definite evidence of structures. A metalled road ran S.W.-N.E. across the site, it was flanked by ditches containing 1st-century pottery. The area was badly disturbed but evidence of a timber building and a later stone building survived to the S. of the road. At SP 73116044 a series of gullies and ditches, probably 1st and 2nd century in date was overlaid by a stone structure 12 m. x 6 m. dating to the 3rd or 4th century. Immediately to the E. and set approximately at right angles was another stone building 17+m. by 9 m. Two decapitated burials lay just to the N. A series of ditches associated with at least 12 burials, at least two of which were decapitated, was centred on SP 73256028. A small hoard of 45 billon radiates, contained in a pot was found and dates to within a few years of AD 280. The evidence from the excavation and watching briefs do not indicate a densely settled regularly planned urban centre but rather a loosely disposed `service centre' for the surrounding countryside and the fragmentary structural remains suggest possible formalisation, at least of this area of settlement, and rebuilding in stone, not earlier than the second half of the 3rd century.

{1} Roman Settlement (centred on SP 729605), lay on either side of the Weedon Road. The site, on a S-facing slope, dips from 76 m. above OD on Northampton Sands through head and glacial sand and gravel to alluvium in the river valley at 60 m. above OD. The Settlement - The precise or even general nature of the settlement at Duston will probably never be known since detailed archaeological records were not made during the period of ironstone quarrying. It would appear, however, that the settlement covered at least 20 acres. The evidence certainly points to fairly extensive settlement before AD 60 and at least some occupation before AD 43. The nature and extent of the pre-Conquest settlement is, however, uncertain as it is that immediately after the Conquest. There is nothing specifically military among the finds yet the situation of Duston mid-way Bannaventa and Irechester suggests that a military presence is at least a possibility. Excavations by Northampton Development Corporation's Archaeological Unit in 1974-6 to the S. of Weedon Road in the area of SP 731603 recovered definite evidence of structure. A metalled road ran S.W.-N.E. across the site. At SP 73156035 the road was flanked by ditches containing 1st-century pottery. The area was badly disturbed but evidence of a timber building and a later stone building survived to the S. of the road. At SP 73116044 a series of gullies and ditches, probably 1st and 2nd century in date was overlaid by a stone structure 12 m. x 6 m. dating to the 3rd or 4th century. Immediately to the E. and set approximately at right angles was another stone building 17 + m. by 9 m.. Two decapitated burials lay just to the N. Traces of further stone buildings were noted during topsoil stripping at SP 73196045 and SP 73216051. A double burial lay just to the S.W. of the first of these buildings. A series of ditches associated with at least 12 burials, at least two of which were decapitated, was centred on SP 73256028. A small hoard of 45 billon radiates, contained in a pot was found at SP 73156044. The hoard dates to within a few years of AD 280. The evidence from the excavation and watching briefs do not indicate a densely settled regularly planned urban centre but rather a loosely disposed `service centre' for the surrounding countryside and the fragmentary structural remains suggest possible formalisation, at least of this area of settlement, and rebuilding in stone, not earlier than the second half of the 3rd century. Observations have been made at a number of locations and casual finds recorded. In 1977 trial excavations ahead of road development at SP 726604 revealed a few cut features of 4th-century date together with a scatter of earlier pottery (NDC R129). In 1973 a service trench centred on SP 73256071 contained cut features associated with pottery of `Belgic' type, including some certainly pre-Conquest, and also some later Roman sherds (NDC P75). [Additional references to findspot of Roman material]. The Cemeteries - Excavations between 1974-6, S. of the Weedon Road uncovered at least sixteen skeletons or parts of skeletons and one cremation (NDC R101). Of particular interest were four burials where the body had been decapitated; these were probably late Roman in date. In 1908 a stone sarcophagus containing a skeleton but no finds was discovered in Duston `on the site of the Roman villa'. The coffin was `surrounded by roughly built stone walls, 4 feet thick, of white limestone, which seem to have formed some kind of building or chamber, the shape of which has not yet been determined'. The form of the burial and the evidence of a funerary structure suggest that this was probably a Roman burial. There is a large number of complete pottery vessels from Duston in Northampton Museum, many of them `miniatures' and the excellent state of their preservation suggests that a large proportion of them at least were grave goods. The relationship of the Roman and Anglo-Saxon cemeteries [SP 76 SW 17] is obviously of significance, and although the lack of details of the precise location of finds does not make it possible to say a great deal, it is of interest that a Roman lead coffin was found `in the midst of the Saxon cemetery' in 1903. The End of Roman Duston - The coin series from Duston ranges from the 1st to the 4th century and includes examples of Honorius and Arcadius which suggests some activity in the late 4th or early 5th century; this is supported by two buckles of this date now in Northampton Museum. The presence of a Roman lead coffin within the Anglo-Saxon cemetery (see above) perhaps also suggests continuity although the location of the coffin may have been fortuitous. There is, however, nothing else from the Anglo-Saxon cemetery apparently earlier than AD 450 although this is not itself conclusive as cemeteries of the earlier 5th century appear to have been singularly lacking in grave goods (Clarke 1979, 371). No early to middle Saxon pottery, either domestic or funerary, has been recognised from the area of the Roman settlement.

{2}"….no indications of domestic habitation yet been discovered…."; contradicts earlier publication.

{7} The remains of a large rectangular feature have been found on a site to the east of Sixfields. Although most of the feature has been destroyed, visible remains are the ditch that runs almost the complete length of the southern boundary and embankment, part of the eastern ditch and bank, and the south east corner. St Luke's Archaeology presents the case that this must be given a level of acceptance as a prime candidate for the early Roman township of Duston.

{9} George (1904) noted that over 1000 coins had been recovered from the quarries and the quantity and dating of the coins from the 1970s excavations support the suggestion that Duston acted as a centre for monetary transactions probably associated with taxation and general commerce. This suggestion may be further supported by the presence of 3rd AD century moulds for the production of ‘counterfeit’ coins, an activity that has been considered officially supported or at least condoned during this period.Further evidence for craft production and the study of trade at Duston is scarce. Within the area of the rescue excavations the absence of a published syntheses of all the artefactual evidence currently limits what can be said. Research by the author into the archive, however, suggests that with the exception of a pottery assemblage of 5,300 sherds and a list of some 150 coins (45 from a single hoard) there is little material that would be suitable for further study. That said it is notable that nowhere amongst the reports of this work is there any indication of craft or industrial activity on any significant scale. This is particularly striking in regard to the site’s location on good iron ore deposits and the abundance of evidence for smelting and or smithing within other towns in the region. The few structures (such as drying or malting ovens) and finds (such as the knife, saw and leather working punch) that were reported overwhelmingly relate to agricultural practice or the processing of arable produce. Together this evidence suggests that Duston probably acted primarily as a local agricultural centre and potential point of local taxation or exchange for goods manufactured elsewhere.
The majority of detailed information on buildings within the settlement, however, comes from the 1970s excavations and those around Site 2 in particular. The unpublished plans and archive text for this excavation indicate a loosely planned but nevertheless quite densely occupied and extensive settlement covering at least 4ha either side of the road running south west towards Towcester. Though the plans from the watching brief are sketchy there is a clear indication that the majority of domestic and craft buildings within this area clustered along or close to the main road frontage with broadly rectilinear enclosures and yards to the rear used for a variety of agricultural and other purposes.

{12} The site at Duston is one of thirteen nucleated settlements that definitely or probably acted as local or regional centres in the Roman period. Located roughly midway between the major settlement at Whilton Lodge (Bannaventa) to the northwest and Irchester to the east, Duston was probably one of the more significant undefended nucleated settlements in the county, which probably acted as a local centre along a side road from Whilton to the river Nene in modern Northampton.
No published excavations or modern surveys are reported for the site and currently our understanding of it is largely dependent upon a number notes made by antiquarians such as Pretty (1849) and Sharp (1871) in the nineteenth century ahead of road works and quarrying. By the early part of the twentieth century George (1904) felt that much of the former Roman remains had already been quarried away but rescue excavation and watching briefs in the 1970s did succeed in adding some useful information about the date, layout and nature of occupation in the southern part of the town. Together, these results suggest that the settlement probably first developed in the Late Iron Age and conquest period (early-middle 1st century AD) within the core of the later settlement and that subsequently the settlement developed as a series of enclosures either side of at least two roads occupied by a range of simple stone or timber rectilinear buildings. It is possible that the settlement developed around a junction of these two routes though archaeological evidence for such an interpretation is absent and likely to have been destroyed. Duston like several of the Nene valley towns may have owed its existence to the social and economic advantages of its location on the emergent Roman road network, its location at the confluence of the Nene and important tributary valleys and to the wealth of its surrounding agricultural landscapes.
Given the early date of many of the discoveries, their partial reporting and the limited extent of later rescue work little can be said about the settlement’s historical development. As most, if not all, of the core area of the settlement now lies under urban and suburban development in Northampton there is no aerial or ground survey evidence to complement the earlier work and little possibility of any in the future. The information from the rescue excavations and watching briefs of the 1970s suggests that the settlement consisted of a series of irregularly shaped ditched enclosures laid out to either side of the main roads within which stood first timber and then later stone buildings of simple form fronting onto the roads. In the few areas of the settlement investigated in any detail the superimposition of enclosure ditches and buildings through several phases from the mid first century to the early to middle fourth century AD indicates a long and complex sequence of development. Both the nineteenth century records from the quarry areas and the 1970s excavations recorded significant clusters of cremations and inhumations that probably represent at least two cemeteries as well as additional individual graves. The main cemetery, somewhere in the northern part of the settlement was unfortunately not accurately located.
Present evidence suggests that Duston is likely to be a further example of a small group of undefended nucleated roadside settlements from the county that were based in part at least on Late Iron Age predecessors similar to those that are also poorly understood at Kings Sutton and Kettering.

{13} The Museum who could give no closer sisting information than the area indicated on OS 6" hold a representative collection of finds from this area including 16 IA coins, 14 of these are listed in "The problems of the Iron Age in Southern Britain", the other coins are a brass of Tasciovanus (Mack 170) and a brass of Cunobelinus (Mack 225). The main area of concentration has been destroyed by Iron-stone mining, much of which has been tipped on, reclaimed, and built over, but associated finds are still being made on the east and west perimeter of the site indicated on OS 6" (the extent of the quarrying) suggesting an extent of up to a mile.

{5, 14, 15} (Area of SP 730 606) An extensive RB site is indicated in the SE of Duston, a little west of St James' End. Burials, Ro pottery and coins were found in 1849 in 'Arbourfield', and the principal discoveries were made between 1860 and 1870 when the Duston Iron Ore Co was working the ironstone. There are no details as to the location of these, but the site, of more than eight acres, was "south of the Daventry road and near a large artifical pond", probably that shown on the OS 6" at SP 734602. The principal finds included many burials (probably more than a hundred, both inhumation and incineration), pottery (Samian, Castor etc) four or five British coins and a fairly continuous series from Claudius to Honorius and many domestic utensils, ornaments, etc. No significant remains of buildings appear to have been found, but the nature of the finds and the discovery of more than twenty wells suggest that habitation, either villa or village, existed nearby. Markham records the finding of a stone coffin in 1908 "on the site of the Roman Villa ..... in the ironstone quarry to the south of the main road leading from Northampton to Weedon". Its position was "surrounded by roughly built stone walls 4ft thick, of white limestone, which seem to have formed some kind of building or chamber." Nine IA coins were found in 1887-8. Wells describes the site as that of a "Romanised Celtic settlement ..... on either side of the Celtic or Roman road which passes through Northampton and joins Watling Street a few miles further on". Some of the finds went to Northampton Museum, others remained with Sharp, and the coins with Wells

{16} Drawings of styli, pin, buckle, amulet and pewter vessel, dated 1864;

{17} Letter dated 16th January 1864 to Sir Henry Dryden from James Fletcher which accompanied two presumably Roman skulls. The letter mentions several other burials, Roman coins, Samian pottery and other ceramics;

{19} (SP 708652). Two parallel ditches on AP in 1981.

{20} (SP 706651). Ditches, pits, ring of ditches on AP in 1982.

{21} Illustration; Plate XLIII(a).

{25} Catalogues some of the Roman coins recovered from ironstone pits on the estate of Lady Palmerston. Also notes the find of a bronze bust, apparently once one of the handles of a large bronze vessel (possibly of Emperor Lucius Verus).

{26} Summary account mentions the quarrying of the area of the cemetery at Duston 'many burials (perhaps to be numbered by hundreds)'. In this area was a number of stone-lined wells (over twenty). In one was a group of earthen coin moulds of emperors Diocletianus, Maximianus Hercules, Constantius Chlorus, and Galerius Maximianus of the follis coin type of the Treves mint.

<1> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1985, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.252-57 (checked) (Series). SNN77383.

<2> Sharp S., 1871, An Account of Roman Remains Found at Duston in Northamptonshire, p.3 (unchecked) (Article). SNN45289.

<3> Ordnance Survey, 1950s/1960s, Ordnance Survey Record Cards, SP76SW26 (unchecked) (Index). SNN443.

<4> The Society of Antiquaries London, 1871, Archaeologia (43.1), p.118-30 (unchecked) (Journal). SNN59399.

<5> WELLS W.C., 1931, British Numismatic Journal, p.3 (unchecked) (Journal). SNN59400.

<6> Ordnance Survey, 1950s/1960s, Ordnance Survey Record Cards, SP76SW11 (unchecked) (Index). SNN443.

<7> St Luke's Archaeology, 2001, Roman Town at Sixfields, Northampton, (checked) (Report). SNN104781.

<8> St Luke's Archaeology, 2003, What the Romans did for Duston: Echoes in Todays Landscape, (unchecked) (Report). SNN103888.

<9> Taylor J., 2002, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Duston (Roman), Section 3.4 Commerce and Industry (checked) (Report). SNN103115.

<10> Brindle, T., 2008, Northamptonshire (Draft), (unchecked) (Chapter). SNN106263.

<12> Taylor J., 2002, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Duston (Roman), (unchecked) (Report). SNN106657.

<13> Baird, J, 1969, Field Investigators Comments, F1 BHS 26-MAR-69 (Note). SNN111452.

<14> Page W. (ed), 1930, The Victoria History of the Counties of England: Northamptonshire- The Borough of Northampton, p. 197-8 (Series). SNN100370.

<15> MARKHAM C.A., 1907, Proceedings of The Society of Antiquaries, p. 252-3 (Series). SNN22243.

<16> Dryden H.E.L., 1842-1895, Dryden Collection, DR/25/95/1, 3 (Archive). SNN115.

<17> Dryden H.E.L., 1842-1895, Dryden Collection, DR/25/95/2 (Archive). SNN115.

<18> Ryland, W, Adkins, D, and Serjeantson, R M, 1902, The Victoria History of the Counties of England: Northamptonshire, P197-198 (Series). SNN100368.

<19> Brown A.E.(ed), 1982, Archaeology in Northamptonshire 1981, Page 109 (Journal). SNN100413.

<20> Brown A.E. (Editor), 1983, Archaeology in Northamptonshire 1982, Page 181 (Article). SNN24591.

<21> Daniel G. (ed.), 1972, Antiquity (183), Page 313-314 (Journal). SNN61981.

<22> NDC SMR Records, Nos R9, R129, P154, R185, R101 (Database). SNN103358.

<23> SOCIETY FOR MEDIEVAL ARCHAEOLOGY, 1961, Medieval Archaeology (5), Page 50-52 (Journal). SNN9232.

<24> Cambridge University Collection of Aerial Photographs (Archive). SNN36655.

<25> Sharp, S., 1869, Roman coins found in surface soil, ironstone pits, Duston, Northampton, p. 167-170 (Article). SNN116790.

<26> Sharp S., 1871, Earthen Coin Moulds Found at Duston, Near Northampton, p. 28-41 (Report). SNN72346.

Record last edited

Mar 31 2025 9:52AM