Monument record 1671/1 - Roman Villa SW of Hillfort at Hunsbury

Roman villa 2nd to 4th century and bathhouse, plus earlier occupation.

{1} Fieldwalking by DN Hall had produced Roman pottery, tegulae, tesserae and building stone. A trial excavation was undertaken to ascertain the quality of the surviving remains. Floor levels had been badly damaged by ploughing and walls seldom survived above one course in height. The remains probably represent a small villa.

{2} SP 737 582. Trial excavation in 1973 revealed part of a bath suite with tile pilae and plastered walls. The walls, seldom above one course high, and floors were badly damaged by ploughing. Surface finds were Roman pottery, tegulae, tesserae and building stone.

{4} A probable villa site produced a scatter of building stone, tesserae and pottery, suggesting a villa. Trial excavation confirmed the presence of stone buildings and located part of a hypocaust, but no floor levels survived.

{5} The bath suite of a Romano-British villa was excavated in December 1979 during the construction of the Hunsbury Hill spine road. The bath suite measured 14x7m and comprised a series of 3 rooms of increasing hotness and a cold plunge. The trepidarium and caldarium also possibly had their own plunge baths. A large quantity of tile was recovered including hollow voussoirs. There were a few fragments of a grey tessellated pavement and also a very small piece of a three coloured mosaic – part of a guilloche border. A large quantity of decorated wall plaster survived, the finest piece depicting part of a female human head. The bath suite probably dated to the 4th century. The main villa which incorporated the bath suite measured at least 25x14m . The site was occupied from the 1st to 4th centuries, probably initially a timber structure replaced by a stone one which subsequently expanded. To the west of the villa was a probable aisled barn c.20x10m.

{10} Excavation in July 1981. Work was again concentrated on the main villa range which originated as a simple rectangular block 13x8m, subsequently extended to 17.5m. This later became the east wing of a more substantial structure 26x17.5m with a bath suite forming the west wing. A preliminary analysis of the pottery suggests that the villa was in use from the 2nd-4th centuries AD and it is hoped that a more detailed analysis will give a closer date for the various phases.
Boundary ditches and a pit, partially overlaid by the villa levels and dated to the 1st century AD, can be added to the timber features seen immediately to the north during road construction in 1979, as evidence for pre-villa occupation while the total of 98 worked flints, including a leaf-shaped arrowhead and scrapers, attests a prehistoric presence in the area of the site.

{11} The villa was discovered during fieldwalking in 1973 and a trial excavation by the NDC in the same year revealed that the remains were badly damaged by ploughing. Further work was undertaken in 1979 after the remains of a bath suite were discovered during the construction of the Hunsbury spine road and two short seasons of excavation were held in 1980 and 1981. A corridor ran along the south side to a bath suite, measuring 14m by 6m, which comprised the west range. The bath suite consisted of three rooms, two of them heated by a hypocaust system constructed with tile pilae, and the third including a cold plunge bath which was filled with a large amount of painted wall plaster.The stone villa seems to have originated, probably in the 2nd century AD, as a rectangular block of rooms 13m by 7.5m which was later extended to 17m by 8m. The villa was later further extended, perhaps in the 3rd or 4th century, to cover an area of 26m by 17.5m with the original block forming the east range. A corridor ran along the south side to a bath suite, measuring 14m by 6m, which comprised the west range. Plan.

{12} Following the salvage excavation of the bath house in 1979 it was decided to try and recover the plan and chronological framework of the main villa range. A four week excavation was undertaken in July 1980. The stone villa seems to have originated as a simple rectangular block c.14x8m subsequently extended to a length of 17.5m. The villa then seems to have changed its axis through 90 degrees becoming a substantial structure 26x17.5m. A corridor ran along the front of the villa and the bath suite was set at the other side of and parallel to the original rectangular block. The various phases are so far undated. A Roman bronze coin of Vespian was found near the Roman villa and is now held by the Northampton Musem.

{13} On the southern slope of Hunsbury ridge, below the hillfort, is the site of the Wootton villa and bath house, which dates from the C2nd AD. In its original form it was a rectangular stone building 14m x 8m, but was later extended and realigned to 26m x 17.5m.

{15} In 1981 the lower stone of a rotary quern was found near the excavated Roman site.

<1> Brown A.E. (Editor), 1974, Archaeology In Northamptonshire 1973, 9/101 (checked) (Article). SNN9109.

<2> Rowley R.T.; Fowler W.J. (Editors), 1974, South Midlands Archaeology: CBA Group 9 Newsletter (4), 4/22+27 (checked) (Newsletter). SNN17341.

<3> 1974, Britannia, 5/434 (checked) (Journal). SNN58444.

<4> Hall, D., 1976, Wootton Parish Survey, 1973, 11/151 (checked) (Article). SNN107518.

<5> Brown A.E. (ed.), 1980, Archaeology in Northamptonshire 1979, 15/168 (checked) (Article). SNN56490.

<6> Hall D. (Editor), 1980, South Midlands Archaeology: CBA Group 9 Newsletter (10), p.22 (checked) (Journal). SNN22466.

<7> 1980, Britannia, 11/372 (checked) (Journal). SNN22463.

<8> 1981, CBA GROUP 9 NEWSLETTER, 11/33 (checked) (Journal). SNN22467.

<9> 1981, Britannia, 12/342 (checked) (Journal). SNN22464.

<10> Shaw M., 1982, South Midlands Archaeology: CBA Group 9 Newsletter (12), 12/39 (checked) (Journal). SNN22160.

<11> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1985, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.424/Site 8 (checked) (Series). SNN77383.

<12> Brown A.E. (ed.), 1981, Archaeology in Northamptonshire 1980, 16/201 (Article). SNN100418.

<13> Carlyle S., 2010, Neolithic Cremations And A Romano-British Enclosure at Milton Ham, Northampton, February and March 2008, p.4 (part checked) (Report). SNN107968.

<14> Rees G., 2008, Enclosure Boundaries and Settlement Individuality in The Iron Age, (unchecked) (Article). SNN106040.

<15> Brown A.E.(ed), 1982, Archaeology in Northamptonshire 1981, P. 103 (Journal). SNN100413.

<16> Scott, E., 1993, A gazetteer of Roman villas in Britain, P. 148-9 (Monograph). SNN110345.

Record last edited

Apr 25 2025 3:59PM