Summary

Excavations carried out in 2007 within the footprint of a new school building revealed a section of a Roman road and an associated area of settlement. The earliest stratigraphic phase dates to the late first or early second century. It seems that the construction of the road dates to this early phase, as a pebble surface was recorded, with a series of narrow, north - south aligned linear features with steep U-shaped profiles interpreted as wheel ruts. Phase 2 dates to the early to mid-second century, and the road was constructed of compacted red sand, grey sand containing pebbles, and concentrations of rounded sandstone boulders . Pottery dating to the early to mid-second century was recovered from one of the wheel rut slots. A central route within the road surface was defined by two parallel alignments of roughly squared sandstone blocks, forming kerbs to a demarcated carriageway 6m wide. The road make-up within the carriageway had worn away to form a hollow, and the surviving metalled surface is probably a phase of repair.

Monument Types

• KERBSTONE (Road route, Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• ROAD (Road-major, Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)

Associated Finds

• SHERD (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)

Related records

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.