SNN114188 - Priors Hall Corby, Zone 3, Areas B, C, D and E: Post-excavation assessment and updated project design

Between January and August 2021, Oxford Archaeology East (OA East) undertook open area excavation on Zone 3 of Priors Hall, Corby. Four separate areas were excavated, referenced as Areas B, C, D and E (centred SP 92463 91807 to SP 93342 92114). These areas totalled 4.75ha. Excavation of Areas B–E represent the final stage in excavation works as part of a larger development, of which Area A was completed in 2020. The site encompasses part of the estate of a previously identified Romano-British villa, within 100m of the current site. The site of the villa complex is an Archaeological Management Area (AMA). In Area B, evidence for Middle to Late Iron Age settlement was encountered, comprising roundhouses enclosed by a large ditch. The settlement began to be abandoned in the early 1st century AD before being actively shut down sometime between AD 40–100, possibly at the time when the first villa buildings were constructed. In the Early Roman period Area C was dominated by an avenue/road approach to the villa, defined by parallel ditches aligned east to west that bisected the site for 300m through possibly wooded areas. Its metalled surface survived in patches along its extent. Associated infrastructure such as quarry pits were abundant. Adjacent to the avenue was a single pottery kiln of regional importance. From the kiln, a total of 2440 sherds (38kg) have been identified as possible kiln products, including fragments of mortaria wasters, seemingly with the same maker’s stamp. It seems possible that these are locally produced ‘Verulamium-type’ wares and are indicative of an itinerant potter. This kiln was active between AD 70–150 and was probably part of the burgeoning villa estate. A large, well-preserved stretch of Roman road was uncovered in Area E, running north-east to south-west. Believed to have been constructed by the Roman military in the later 1st century AD, it would have marked a distinctive arterial route for the region, from which the neighbouring villa and its avenue were connected. A single inhumation of a middle-aged female was buried along the line of the road and a radiocarbon determination suggests a burial date between 43 BC–AD 126, with the 1st century AD being the most likely date. Another interesting finding was the common occurrence of metalworking waste across the site, particularly within the metalled surface and ditches of the avenue in Area C, and also within the repair layers of the Area E road. Comprising mainly iron smelting waste, the metalworking debris included common occurrences of slag conglomerate (including a furnace bottom weighing 18kg) and tap slag. In summary, Areas B, C, D and E constitute the earliest phase of villa landscape, which developed from the late 1st to the early 3rd century AD, before activity focused on industry in Area A (to the west) into the later Roman period.