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Monument Types

• TEMPLE? (Early Roman - 43 AD? to 249 AD?)
• VILLA (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)

Summary

A villa was discovered here in the 1990s. The scatters of material located several discrete buildings. Finds included coins, brooches, furniture fittings, tile and pottery (mainly later Roman in date). Trenching in 2017 confirmed the presence of stone buildings. The pottery was early Roman in date. Two pierced Roman coins may suggest a temple on site.

Additional Information

IF's material mentioned in 'Transactions' consists of: 7 Roman coins, 7 brooches, 3 bracelets, a bell, a furniture fitting (knob), 26 sherds of Roman pottery, 6 pieces of tile, 6 nails. Also found were a fragment of a lock, an enamelled brooch, a dolphin brooch, a belt fitting, two studs, another possible stud, a possible nail cleaner or pendant, a miniature sword and a finger ring. Also mentioned in the museums identification are seven stone tesserae. (11546/1992)

LMAST visited the site in 1993. There were large amounts of pottery, tile and tesserae on the surface. Buildings could be identified from the dense scatters. A random but representative sample of material was collected. The site may extend into adjacent fields. (A9.1993) (SJM 16/06/93)

Metal detecting in 2017 recovered three C4th copper alloy nummus coins, a bow and fantail brooch and a fragment of a bow brooch. Undated metal detecting recovered another bow brooch and a dolphin brooch. (Finds are recorded with the Portable Antiquities Scheme.)

Metal detecting in 2017 recovered a silver finger ring fragment, which probably originally had an intaglio, and a pierced silver denarius. The coin is interesting since it was probably pierced to allow it to be nailed to a temple wall. This may suggest a temple as well as/instead of a villa site here. (Finds are recorded with the Portable Antiquities Scheme.)

Metal detecting in late 2017/first half of 2018 recovered further Roman finds: a Colchester derivative bow brooch, a hair pin, a copper alloy finger ring and 12 more coins (mainly C4th nummi but one pierced sestertius, a silver denarius and a C3rd radiate). (Finds are recorded with the Portable Antiquities Scheme.)

<1> 1992, Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society, Volume 66, Vol 66 (1992), p191 (Journal). SLE5935.

"Ian Fraser reports the discovery of a substantial Roman villa site producing much pottery, tesserae, tile (roof and box flue), and several coins, brooches and other metal objects. Several discrete buildings were apparent."

<2> Firmin, Cathy (ed), 1993, Rutland Record, No. 13, No. 13 (1993), p145 (Journal). SLE6549.

See <1>

<3> Jarvis, Wayne, 2017, An archaeological evaluation on land adjacent to Stygate Lane, Pickwell, Leicestershire (Unpublished document). SLE5639.

Trial trenching in 2017 recorded a concentration of Roman material and several stone structures that are likely to form part of a range of buildings of a villa complex. The south-east corner of a substantial ironstone building was recorded, with a cobbled surface inside. To the east of this was a parallel wall that could be a precinct/boundary wall. 16 tegulae and 5 imbrices were recovered, suggesting a high status building. Other finds consisted of 3 iron nails and 52 pieces of Early Roman pottery.
Report is in ADS Library: 10.5284/1047452 - http://dx.doi.org/10.5284/1047452

<4> Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society, 2018, Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society, Volume 92, Vol 92 (2018), p290, p305 (Journal). SLE5817.

The 2017 trial trenching was noted in Transactions. Also, the metal detected pierced coin and ring were discussed in the PAS report. "T475 is a Pierced Republican Denarius (c.140-130 BC) of L Trebanius. The piercing suggests it has been deliberately taken out of circulation and is probably a temple offering, as coins were often nailed to temple structures. T417 is a silver intaglio finger ring fragment from the same field. This is probably associated with T475, as we are seeing increasing numbers of objects made from precious metal appearing in temple assemblages. The assumption is that fragments of objects held meaning, perhaps as symbols of occupation or rank, or were at least good substitutes for coin offerings."

Sources

Associated Finds

• COIN (Middle Iron Age - 140 BC to 130 BC)
• COLCHESTER BROOCH (Late Iron Age to Early Roman - 1 AD to 100 AD)
• BELL (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• BOW AND FANTAIL BROOCH (Early Roman - 43 AD to 200 AD)
• BOW BROOCH (Early Roman - 43 AD to 200 AD)
• BRACELET (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• COIN (Early Roman - 43 AD to 125 AD)
• COIN (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• DOLPHIN BROOCH (Early Roman - 43 AD to 100 AD)
• DOLPHIN BROOCH (Early Roman - 43 AD to 65 AD)
• FINGER RING (Early Roman - 43 AD to 200 AD)
• FINGER RING (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• FLUE TILE (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• FURNITURE FITTING (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• HAIR PIN (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• IMBREX (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• LOCK (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• NAIL (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• NAIL (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• NAIL CLEANER? (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• ROOF TILE (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• SHERD (Early Roman - 43 AD to 200 AD)
• SHERD (Early Roman - 43 AD to 249 AD)
• SHERD (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• STRAP FITTING (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• STUD? (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• SWORD (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• TEGULA (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• TEGULA (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• TESSERA (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• BOW BROOCH (Early Roman - 55 AD to 100 AD)
• COIN (Early Roman - 69 AD to 79 AD)
• TRUMPET BROOCH (Early Roman - 75 AD to 175 AD)
• TRUMPET BROOCH (Early Roman - 75 AD to 175 AD)
• COIN (Early Roman - 138 AD to 192 AD)
• COIN (Early Roman - 198 AD to 212 AD)
• COIN (Early Roman to Late Roman - 201 AD to 300 AD)
• FINGER RING (Early Roman to Late Roman - 201 AD to 300 AD)
• COIN (Late Roman - 286 AD to 293 AD)
• COIN (Late Roman - 301 AD to 400 AD)
• COIN (Late Roman - 306 AD to 350 AD)
• COIN (Late Roman - 315 AD to 409 AD)

Designations

• SHINE: Roman site, probably a villa, indicated by surface finds south-west of Whissendine

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