SNN112757 - A Roman Temple-Mausoleum, Tile and Pottery Manufactories and Associated Industries at Zone 3, Area A, Priors Hall, Corby Post-Excavation Assessment and Updated Project Design

Between August 2019 and March 2020 Oxford Archaeology East (OA East) undertook an open area excavation, totalling 1.2ha, at Area A, Zone 3 of the Priors Hall Development in Corby, Northamptonshire (centred SP 92463 91807). Area A was the first stage of work of a total of four excavation areas (Areas A, C, D and E), which encompasses part of the estate of a previously identified Late Romano-British villa, approximately 200m to the east of the site. The site of the villa complex is an Archaeological Management Area (AMA). The archaeological works uncovered rare evidence of a Late Romano-British villa estate that underwent a transformation of function. Its original purpose as a funerary site was represented in Area A by the presence of a large stonebuilt structure interpreted as a temple-mausoleum, a trackway and associated resource extraction, believed to be linked to an earlier phase of the adjacent villa, probably in the 2nd century AD. At some point in the 3rd century, the site was adapted into an industrialised landscape of manufacture, with pottery, ceramic tiles and lime being produced on the site. The earlier temple-mausoleum structure underwent a dramatic transformation into a large tile and pottery manufactory, with two tile kilns and three pottery kilns being established within its central surviving structure and immediate courtyard. The preliminary analysis on the pottery has established a date range of between AD 200 – 400 and has identified grey ware dishes being part of the production of the kilns. This later activity was accompanied by the exploitation of natural resources, evidenced on site by stone and clay quarries. The industrial activity is a rare example of infrastructure work associated with a later phase of villa expansion or rebuild. A series of small, localised field systems and post-structures are associated with this burgeoning manufacturing centre. The final phase of land-use on the site in the late 4th century AD involved the cessation of most of the production elements. This included the systematic close-down and backfilling of the quarries and pottery kilns, although the tile kilns to the north may have continued in use for slightly longer. Following the end of the Roman period the site displayed no signs of use until the postmedieval period, when the land was appropriated for agricultural use, evidenced by a system of ridge and furrow cultivation.