Tiddington Roman Settlement

Summary

The monument includes the buried remains of a Romano-British roadside settlement with evidence of Iron Age and Anglo-Saxon activities.

Reasons for Designation

Tiddington Roman Settlement is scheduled for the following principal reasons:

* Survival: excavations have determined that the settlement survives well, primarily as subsurface remains containing features such as domestic and agricultural buildings, kilns and quarry pits demonstrating the occupation of the site from the Iron Age to the Anglo-Saxon period;

* Diversity: for the range and complexity of features, such as domestic and agricultural buildings, kilns, rubbish pits and ditches, which indicate a plan of the settlement and retain significant stratified deposits providing details of the continuity and change in the evolution of the settlement;

* Documentation: the settlement is well researched and documented with aerial photography, lidar imagery and recent survey work which has contributed to our understanding of the site;

* Potential: the settlement contains evidence of domestic, agricultural and other structures, as well as details of the social and economic life of the settlement, and can further contribute to our understanding of Iron Age and Romano-British life.

History

Romano-British settlements began to emerge in the mid-first century AD and continued throughout the period of Roman occupation in Britain (around AD 43-410). Some small towns had their origins in earlier military sites such as fort-vici and developed into independent urban areas following the abandonment of the forts. Others developed alongside major roads and were able to exploit a wide range of commercial opportunities as a result of their location. Of the Roman small towns recorded in England, there is generally a concentration in the Midlands and central southern England.

The Romano-British settlement at Tiddington appears to have been proceeded by a small Iron Age settlement, with evidence of earlier activity identified by several excavations (N Palmer, 1982). By the 1st century AD, a larger settlement had developed at Tiddington which occupied approximately 8 hectares and was sited close to a natural crossing point of the River Avon.

Once considered to be a substantial defended town, research of the site has indicated that Tiddington was a smaller, nucleated roadside settlement, with a mixed agricultural and light industrial economy. Late-C20 excavations have revealed that the site underwent major expansion in the late 1st and early 2nd centuries AD when the settlement developed beyond its narrow focus along the road. The expansion of the site saw the creation of lanes to either side of this road, with ditched enclosures containing evidence of domestic, agricultural and industrial activities. The settlement was predominately made up of timber buildings with thatched roofs, although one stone-built building to the south of Tiddington Road was identified and excavated in the late C20. The settlement remained in occupation up until at least the 4th century, although it became more fragmented and there is evidence that a large defensive ditch was dug around part of the settlement. Evidence for a later Anglo-Saxon enclosure towards the eastern end of the site represents evidence that it remained occupied through the 5th and 6th centuries.

Evidence of Roman activity at Tiddington was first recognised in the late C19 and the settlement site has since been subject to archaeological investigations including a magnetometer survey, excavation and watching briefs. During the C20, various archaeological excavations were carried out during the establishment of the golf course to the south of Tiddington Road, also in advance of the construction of some of the houses alongside the road, and when Reading Court was constructed in the north-eastern part of the site. Slight earthworks associated with the settlement were visible at the site until the late C20 but have since been removed by farming activities. In the early C21 further evaluations and excavations were undertaken in Dunstall Field in the north-western area of the site and within the plots of 117 and 121 Tiddington Road, also in the north-eastern area.

Details

PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS: the monument includes the buried remains of a Romano-British roadside settlement bisected by Tiddington Road which is orientated roughly west-east. Evidence of Iron Age and Anglo-Saxon activities has also been identified at the site. It is situated on a gravel terrace above the southern floodplain of the River Avon. The monument covers just over six hectares in total.

DESCRIPTION: the settlement appears to have developed to either side of a probable trackway or road, which is now represented by Tiddington Road, and around which all activity was focussed. From the late-C1 several irregular lanes were constructed to either side of the main trackway, alongside which a number of ditched enclosures developed. Investigations have uncovered evidence for features within them such as domestic and agricultural buildings which were found to be mostly timber built with thatched roofs. In addition, kilns, rubbish pits, corn driers and wells have also been uncovered within the settlement’s enclosures. An excavation at 117 Tiddington Road in the late C20 uncovered evidence of further C1 and C2 enclosures; the earlier enclosure was found to contain a clay-lined hearth. Similar enclosures of the same period were also identified to the east at 121 Tiddington Road. In addition, burials of probable C4 date were discovered at numbers 117 and 119 indicating that this area of the settlement appears to have fallen out of active domestic use in the later Roman period and was instead used for burials. Evidence of quarry pits, Iron Age sherds and a later enclosure and pottery of the Anglo-Saxon period have also been identified, indicating the occupation of the site both before and after the Roman period. Evidence was also found of a later, boundary ditch to the west at 121 Tiddington Road which cut through some of the earlier features and was interpreted as a possible C5 or C6 re-cutting of an earlier C4 ditch.

To the west of Reading Court in the north-eastern part of the site, early-C21 excavations have found evidence of a coaxial field system and a building interpreted as late Iron Age to early Roman. To the west of this, a number of pits and ditches of a similar date have been identified. At the very west end of the monument, in an area known as Dunstall Field, several ditches containing Roman and Iron Age pottery were excavated in the early C21. At the north-west end of the field was a V-profile ditch, around 1.5m wide, which contained fragments of animal bone, late Iron Age pottery and several possible pottery sherds of Roman date. A geophysical survey of the north end of the field found a further ditch which contained sherds of middle Iron Age date and burnt bone and was also interpreted as middle Iron Age in date; the survey suggested that this was an isolated feature of the period.

To the south of the road, much of the land is occupied by Stratford-on-Avon Golf Course which was established in the early-C20. Landscaping when it was laid out has meant that the earthworks previously identified in this area are no longer visible above the surface. Excavations in the early-C20 did demonstrate that this part of the settlement was one of dense domestic occupation and recovered large quantities of Roman material. A stone building and evidence of industrial activities including tilemaking and lead and iron smelting were also identified in the north-eastern part of the golf course. To the east, the south-east extent of the settlement’s outer ditch was identified in late-C20 excavations prior to the development of the area and the erection of the NFU Mutual building.

EXCLUSIONS: There are a number of exclusions from the scheduling. The modern buildings at number 117 Tiddington Road are excluded as are all other modern upstanding buildings along with modern roads, pavements and other surfaces, modern boundary walls, balustrades, fencing and railings, lamp posts and road signs. The ground beneath all these features is, however, included in the scheduling.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

WA 184

Legacy System:

RSM - OCN

Sources

Websites
Excavations of a Roman Settlement at 121 Tiddington Road Stratford-upon-Avon, Oxford Archaeology, 1 October 2003, accessed 5 July 2023 from https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-1352-1/dissemination/pdf/Warwickshire/GL32058.pdf
Tiddington Road Character Study, Stratford-on-Avon District Council, July 2005, accessed 5 July 2023 from https://www.stratford.gov.uk/doc/208345/name/Introduction%20and%20Map%20unlocked.pdf/

Other
Palmer, N. 1982. Roman Stratford: Excavations at Tiddington 1980-81. Warwickshire Museum: Warwick.
Palmer, S. C. 2010. Early Roman Settlement, Late Roman Burials and an Anglo-Saxon Enclosure at 119 Tiddington Road, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. Unpublished report for Warwickshire Museum Field Services, available at: https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-1352-1/dissemination/pdf/Warwickshire/GL32017.pdf
Allen, T. 2013 Dunstall Field, Review of existing archaeological information and geophysical survey report. Unpublished report for Oxford Archaeology.
Fieldhouse, W.J., May, T and Wellstood, F.C. 1931. A Romano-British industrial settlement near Tiddington. The Corporation of Stratford-upon-Avon and the Trustees and Guardians of Shakespeare's Birthplace: Stratford-upon-Avon. Available online at https://callisto.ggsrv.com/imgsrv/FastFetch/UBER2/0FFO-1926-JAN02-015?legacy=no&highlight=00ff00+.7+2261+835+184+36&crop=2143+160+677+5707&scale=0.5&format=jpeg.
Gorniak, M and Allen, T. 2014. Phase 1 archaeological evaluation at Dunstall Field, Tiddington Road, Stratford-upon-Avon. Unpublished report for Oxford Archaeology. Available online at http://library.oxfordarchaeology.com/5985/1/TIDST14.pdf.
McIntosh, R. and Allen, T. 2016. Phase 2 archaeological evaluation at Dunstall Field, Tiddington Road, Stratford-upon-Avon. Unpublished report for Oxford Archaeology. Available online at http://library.oxfordarchaeology.com/5985/2/TIDST16.pdf.
Anon. (1988). 117 Tiddington Road, Stratford-on-Avon. Archaeological Excavations. Warwickshire Museum. Available online at: https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/library/browse/issue.xhtml?recordId=1119782&recordType=GreyLitSeries
Bayer O. & Small F., 'Tiddington, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire: A desk-based assessment and aerial investigation and mapping study of the Roman Settlement', July 2022, Historic England Research Report Series 57-2022.

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