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Summary

Romano-British artefact scatter at Washingborough Road, south of the railway line. The finds would seem to indicate the presence of a farmstead or villa.

Full description

A surface scatter of Romano-British pottery was found by the Washingborough Parish Project Group, west of Washingborough, in Canwick parish. {1}

Some 186 fragments of Roman greyware, 6 fragments of Roman colour-coated ware, and 4 fragments of Roman Samian ware were found during field walking by the Washingborough Archaeology Group, on 24/10/1993. Fragments of oyster shell pieces were found with the Roman pottery. A sample collection of 70 tile fragments collected on the site included some Roman brick and tile. The Roman pottery and building materials were largely found close together in an area roughly from the railway tunnel to the electricity pylon, and also in the half of the field nearest the embankment (i.e. the north-west corner). {2}

Also recovered were 497 Roman coins and 86 other artefacts, such as loom weights, brooches and spindle whorls. {3}

A later report produced by the Washingborough Archaeology Group states that 195 sherds of Romano-British pottery were recovered from this field along with 8 sherds of Shelly ware, which may be Romano-British. {4}

Some 115 sherds of Roman pottery were recovered from this field during field walking undertaken along the proposed route of the Lincoln Eastern Bypass. Sixty-eight sherds could not be more closely dated, 34 sherds dated to the 2nd to 3rd century, 9 sherds from the 1st to 2nd century and 4 sherds from to the 3rd to 4th century. Of these sherds, 92 sherds were greyware. There was also a single sherd of box flue tile. {5}{6}

The remains of walls, which were substantially robbed in the medieval period, were recorded during trial trenching along the proposed route of the Lincoln Eastern Bypass. Thirty-two fragments of box flue tile were found in association, indicating the presence of a hypocaust system. Two tiles were cut into a round shape which is probably part of columns or plasters indicating a high status building. There were eight sherds of pottery thought to date to the later Iron Age, suggesting that this site was occupied prior to the building of the stone structure. Whilst pottery from the 1st and 2nd centuries was recovered, including 1st to 2nd century Dressel ware, 20 sherds of amphora and Samian, the vast majority was greyware from Swanpool dating to the 3rd and 4th centuries showing an increase in size and status around this time. Other important finds included fragments of rotary querns and charred cereal grains suggesting a residential site with food production. Large amounts of animal bone from cattle, sheep pigs, horse, dog, rabbit, bird as well as creatures associated with the nearby marshy river margins like goose, frog and toad, again suggesting a site where people lived. There were also traces of hammer-scale as well as iron slag in the ditch fills which imply iron working nearby. There was a stone lined drain over a spring; the dating of this is rather tenuous, however, and this may actually be post medieval instead. The some parts of the building appear to have been taken down rapidly, whilst other areas appear to have decayed slowly, there possibly still being visible walls as late as the early medieval period. {7}{8}

A small fragment of possibly Roman brick or tile was recovered from the core of a borehole, dug in September 2013, dug along part of the proposed route of the Lincoln Eastern Bypass. The fragment was recovered from a layer too deep to have been impacted by ploughing, suggesting it was deposited as a result of slope wash, and confirming Roman activity in this area. {9}{10}

<1> Loven, P., 1993, Untitled Source, - (Verbal Communication). SLI4973.

<2> Washingborough Archaeology Group, 1994, Report on Field 18, Field 18 (Unpublished Document). SLI6243.

<3> NORTH KESTEVEN RECORDS, NK 71.14 (Index). SLI2123.

<4> Washingborough Archaeology Group, 1998, Report on Field Walking in Washingborough, Field 18 (Unpublished Document). SLI4781.

<5> Pre-Construct Archaeology, Mar 2003, Fieldwalking on the the proposed route of the Lincoln Eastern Bypass, LEB03 (Report). SLI10103.

<6> Pre-Construct Archaeology, Mar 2003, Fieldwalking on the the proposed route of the Lincoln Eastern Bypass, LCNCC 2003.20 (Archive). SLI10104.

<7> Pre-Construct Archaeology, Feb 2004, Trial trenching on the proposed route of the Lincoln Eastern Bypass., LEB03 (Report). SLI10091.

<8> Pre-Construct Archaeology, Feb 2004, Trial trenching on the proposed route of the Lincoln Eastern Bypass., LCNCC 2003.241 (Archive). SLI10092.

<9> Archaeological Project Services, 2014, Boreholes Along the Proposed Route of the Lincoln Eastern Bypass, Witham Valley, Washingborough, APS site code: WIVW 13 (Report). SLI14803.

<10> Archaeological Project Services, 2014, Boreholes Along the Proposed Route of the Lincoln Eastern Bypass, Witham Valley, Washingborough, LCNCC 2013.150 (Archive). SLI14804.

Monument Types

• ARTEFACT SCATTER (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• FARMSTEAD (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• SETTLEMENT (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• VILLA (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• WALL (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)

Associated Finds

• ARCHITECTURAL FRAGMENT (Roman - 43 AD? to 409 AD?)
• BRICK (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• FLUE TILE (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• LOOMWEIGHT (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• QUERN (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• SHERD (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• SPINDLE WHORL (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• TILE (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• BROOCH (Roman - 100 AD to 400 AD)
• COIN (Roman - 100 AD to 400 AD)

Associated Events

• Field walking in Washingborough
• Proposed route of the Lincoln Eastern Bypass.
• The proposed route of the Lincoln Eastern Bypass
• Boreholes Along the Proposed Route of the Lincoln Eastern Bypass, Witham Valley, Washingborough

Protected Status

• SHINE

Sources and further reading

Related records

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