Monument Type(s):

• SETTLEMENT (Roman - 43 AD to 410 AD)

Summary

This site represents: a settlement of Roman date.

Related records

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events

• ESA6808 - 2011 WB on land east of the River Severn, Insula XXVIII, Wroxeter, Shropshire, by Castlering Archaeology
• ESA4845 - 2002 WB on further churchyard wall repairs at St Andrew's, Wroxeter by N Baker
• ESA4758 - 2001 watching brief on churchyard wall repairs, Church of St Andrew's, Wroxeter by SCCAS
• ESA4768 - 2001 WB at Wroxeter Hotel by BUFAU (Ref: 813)
• ESA5719 - 1991 evaluation at Wroxeter Hotel by BUFAU
• ESA7611 - 1999 Resistivity survey around lining hole 12, Wroxeter main relining, Wroxeter by BUFAU
• ESA5075 - 1999 WB on excavation of lining pits along water main DMA711, Wroxeter by BUFAU
• ESA8629 - 2016 trial trenching at The Wroxeter Hotel, Wroxeter by Cursus Archaeology (Ref: 11/02092/FUL)

Description

CMHTS Comment:- Area of Roman occupation in SW angle of defences, traversed by Roman roads but with no trace of regular insula layout. Area occupied by medieval and later buildings and cropmarks absent. Evidence of Roman occupation and cremations from a number of locations (SA 6468, SA 6469, SA 6471, SA 6472, SA 6475, SA 6476). <1>

CMHTS Report. <2>

A watching brief on churchyard wall repairs at St Andrew's Church in 2001 revealed further traces of occupation. Remains were mostly only visible in section but included a possible path, a ditch or pit, and a sandstone pad which may have been either a post-pad or the truncated end of a stone wall. Roman finds (which were nearly all unstratified, coming from spoil created by the cutting back of the section) included fragments of Roman pottery, mortaria and amphora, a bone pin, some painted wall plaster, fragments of brick and tile and roof slate of possible Roman (or medieval) date. At the same time, observation of the churchyard wall itself revealed pieces of worked masonry built into the churchyard wall. At one point, the wall incorporated a very large block of (?Roman) concrete with red sandstone inclusions. It appeared that this block was in situ and pre-dated the wall, although this could not ascertained during the watching brief. <3>

A further phase of watching brief was carried out on churchyard wall repairs at St Andrew's Church in 2002. These recorded further Roman masonry incorporated into the churchyard wall. It also revealed a series of deposits representing destruction debris from either the decay, alteration, demolition or clearance of Roman buildings in the vicinity. The results point to an intermittent horizon of post-Roman, pre-medieval activity underneath the church and churchyard. <4>

A programme of archaeological monitoring and recording was undertaken in August 2011 during the renewal of the 11kv electricity line and supporting poles crossing the northern portion of OS Plot 2533, an open field on the east bank of the River Severn and to the north of this area of Roman settlement. Geophysical survey has established the presence of significant Roman archaeology in this area, labelled Insula 28. The presentwork comprised the hand excavation of six pits with further augering to be undertaken by the contractors. The excavation of the pits on previously unevaluated land has provided an insight into the past land-use of Insula XXVIII of the Roman City. The area of the pits in general has clearly been disturbed by ploughing in the pre-1970s period and the mixed contexts revealed no firm evidence of the original date of deposition of layers or finds. Finds were located in all soils and at all depths and the number of finds recovered is extremely high when compared with the size of the excavated pits. The finds recovered were almost entirely Roman in date, residual and mixed in context, number and variety. The datable range of the finds ranges from the first to fourth century. The only features recorded were in Pits 5 and 6, the two pits nearer the roadside. The stone surfaces uncovered in these Pits appear to represent possible yard areas or the internal surface of non-domestic buildings which were presumably set back from the street frontage to the east. The fragments of building materials, comprising brick, floor tile, roof tile and nails, may have derived from a more roadside location. Although the building material recovered was Roman in date, it may have continued in use in the Anglo-Saxon period, following the age old practice of re-use. The recovery of finds of potential second to fourth century date from below and above the stone surfaces in Pits 5 and 6 prevents attributing an accurate date to the features. However, allowing for post-Roman agricultural disturbance, a second to third century construction date seems the most likely. While the programme of monitoring and recording appears to confirm the absence of significant buried structural remains at the pit locations, modern geophysical survey has shown a good survival of below ground archaeology on the field itself. Within the limitations of the current excavation work, a significant number of finds have been recovered and two possible yard surfaces. The record has increased our knowledge of the previously unevaluated Insula XXVIII, indicating that further archaeological evidence lies below ground within this field. <5>

Archaeological evaluation undertaken in 1991 to the rear of Wroxeter Hotel indicated that this area had not been intensively occupied, with 'backplot' activity being recorded (see PRN 06476). <6>

A watching brief was carried out in 2001 in advance of construction of an extension to the Wroxeter Hotel, at the south end of the Roman city of Viroconium. No archaeology of significance was discovered in Trenches 1,4 and 5. At the east end of Trench 2, the base of a possible bank was found, with a marking out ditch behind. On top of the bank, a hearth was identified in section. An irregular paved surface was found at the west end of the site, interpreted as hard standing and dated by 2nd-4th century pottery amongst its stonework. The hearth and paved stone surface were both preserved in situ. <7>

Investigation in this area was undertaken during excavations in advance of water main relining at Wroxeter, in 1999, by BUFAU (ESA5075). This included monitoring and recording of lining holes 11A, 12, 15, 16, in an area to the S and SW of St Andrews Church (see figure 6). ->

-> Substantial building remains were encountered, especially within the vicinity of lining hole 12 (see PRN 32098). The discovery of substantial masonry remains in lining hole 12, prompted a resistivity survey, undertaken in association with the watching brief. The survey located a number of possible wall alignments at an angle to the current road, but at right angles to Watling Street, which runs obliquely as an earthwork from a point halfway along the Topsy Cottage boundary wall to the SE corner of the field where the Roman ford lay. This indicated that the masonry belonged to a house, and that other such buildings may be expected at least along the eastern side of the street. ->

-> The report contains detailed analysis of the remains and a number of specialist reports on the artefactual material recovered. <8>

A programme of investigation was carried out at The Wroxeter Hotel in connection with retrospective planning permission for the installation of underground electricity lines. This comprised the hand excavation of 23 trial trenches and a posthole. The work was designed to recover any disturbed archaeology and/or potentially gain an understanding of the nature of archaeological deposits, artefacts or features existing prior to disturbance. ->

-> "No dating evidence can be considered in this report as diagnostic, despite the abundance of Roman C1-C4 AD artefacts (ceramics) [detailed in report". The existence of Roman deposits and features on this site is, however, clear; it is the interpretation by this report, but not determined with any reasonable certainty by the artefactual evidence, that feature (003) is probably the remains of a Roman wall [PRN 34198], and deposit (1602) is likely to be a Roman or post-Roman demolition context [PRN 34199]. Additionally, the existence of finds within many of the trenches, although unstratified, suggests that deposits such as subsoil layers (1002) and (1102), may also be Roman." <9>

Sources

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