Monument record 724/1 - Roman 'Villa', Swinneyford Farm (Burcote Wood Farm villa)

Complex of buildings including a small 'cottage-type' dwelling, as well as a mill, workshop and other ancillary buildings Summary from record 724/1/1: Crop/soilmark+Stonework: Small scale excavation Summary from record 724/1/3: Crop/soilmark+Stonework: Small scale excavation Summary from record 724/1/4: Crop/soilmark+Stonework: Small scale excavation

{1} Excavations between 1972 and 1976 revealed parts of a substantial villa and its outbuildings. Apart from some prehistoric activity on site, the earliest occupation appears to have been a system of ditched enclosures and pottery kilns dating from about AD 40 to 60. No kilns have been found in situ but significant quantities of kiln furniture were recovered. The villa has not been completely excavated and parts of only six rooms and a portico have been exposed. It appears to have been built in the late C1st, over earlier timber structures, and to have gone out of use by the C3rd. Two of the rooms had painted wall-plaster. Adjacent to the villa on the N lay a small rectangular stone building of two rooms, erected just after AD 200. One room contained a T-shaped corn-drying oven and a second oven had been inserted into the floor after the building had collapsed. To the NE of the villa there was a three-celled building with a portico on one side. This was built originally as a single room probably in about AD 130-160 over C1st occupation debris and pits, and the two other rooms and the portico were added at a later date. Tesserae and wall-plaster were discovered around the building.
Excavations in 1972-6 uncovered finds of: stone mouldings, flue tiles, tessarae, and a small capital of limestone and column base and part of shaft; a bronze scabbard-mount with celtic decoration; pottery from second half of 1stC AD in the bottom of a ditch near the site of a possible windmill.

{2} Belgic enclosure ditches. The most important of these lies to the south of the main complex of excavated buildings. The northern limit butt ends just inside the southern corner of the main villa building. It then turns through a right angle to the west. Two other features, a length of ditch running adjacent to the hedgerow division on its northern side and possibly part of another just to the east of its butt end, also date from this period.
A series of post holes cut deep into the natural subsoils are visible in those areas where the superimposed masonry buildings have been robbed of their stone. These post holes, some of which are very substantial, belong to the Flavian period and indicate the presence of large wooden buildings. A thick burnt deposit may indicate the ultimate fate of one of these buildings.

{4} Excavation of 1972-6. Parts of only six rooms and a portico exposed. Built late C1st AD over earlier timber structures. Was out of use by the C3rd AD. Painted wall plaster was found in two rooms. Other short lengths of walling were noted elsewhere.

<1> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1982, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.156/Site 5 (checked) (Series). SNN77382.

<2> Brown A.E. (Editor), 1977, Archaeology in Northamptonshire 1976, p.222 (unchecked) (Report). SNN723.

<3> Woodfield P., 1978, Roman Architectural Masonry From Northamptonshire, 13/81 (unchecked) (Article). SNN101140.

<4> 1977, Correspondence, (checked) (Correspondence). SNN55146.

<5> Turland, R E & Woods, P J, 2017, Excavations at Burcote Wood Farm, Wood Burcote, Towcester, Northamptonshire, 1972-1982 and 2010: An introductory account (Book). SNN110764.

<6> Northamptonshire SMR Collection of Aerial Photographs, Used with NMR & CUCAP collections (Aerial Photograph(s)). SNN104822.

<7> Woodfield C., 1998, LETTERS, (unchecked) (Letter). SNN58562.

<8> 1974, Wood Burcote excavations, (unchecked) (Note). SNN52014.

<9> Conlon, R and Boreham, G, 2023, Burcote Wood Farm villa: from a field in Towcester to the Northamptonshire ARC, Chester House Estate, p. 333-334 (Article). SNN116706.

Record last edited

Jan 18 2025 3:00PM