SNN107496 - Archaeological Investigation of Land Adjacent to The Cottons, Rockingham

In advance of the erection of several dwellings, near the northern limit of the village of Rockingham, a programme of archaeological investigation was undertaken. The site extended from Main Street in the west to a curving lane, ‘The Cottons’, in the east. The earliest evidence for occupation of the site was a possible prehistoric pit containing an animal burial associated with flint artefacts. A small sherd of late Bronze Age - early Iron Age pottery was also recovered from the site. An indication of Roman activity in the vicinity was implied by the presence of a small assemblage of residual pottery, recovered from the fills of later features. In the medieval period the eastern part of the site was within an arable field, indicated by ridge and furrow earthworks. A ditch separated this area from the land parcel bounding Main Street in the west. In the western land parcel perpendicular ditches with a slightly diverging alignment to the present land boundaries were identified. Pottery and animal bone recovered from the recut northern boundary ditch indicated activity in the vicinity. The majority of the archaeological features identified in the western area were post-medieval or later in date. Most of this area had been disturbed by landscaping associated with construction of a Victorian gas works. However, beneath the disturbance traces of at least one substantial stone building were revealed. This would appear to have been erected in the 17th-18th centuries, a similar date to other buildings in the vicinity. The building, which was probably domestic in function, is not depicted on any surviving historic maps. Traces of two wells, and walls near the street frontage in the western part of the site were also revealed. Until recently the western land parcel was a farm yard, whilst the paddock in the east preserved the ridge and furrow earthworks.