Roman site, Roman Way estate

Summary

Roman villa, aqueduct and pottery works at Roman Way housing estate.

Reasons for Designation

The Roman villa, aqueduct and pottery works at Roman Way housing estate provide a valuable insight into the local Roman economy. Romano-British villas were extensive rural estates at the focus of which were groups of domestic, agricultural or industrial buildings such as the pottery works at the Roman Way estate. The term "villa" is now commonly used to describe either the estate or the buildings themselves. Many had integral or separate suites of heated baths as is the case with this site. The aqueduct, an artificial channel used to carry water from the nearby Bourne Stream, would have been used to supply both the baths of the villa and the pottery works. All of the nearly 400 known Roman potteries in England are located with ready access to markets, and all are situated close to necessary raw materials such as suitable clay, water and fuel. Although there is some variation throughout the country, all Roman potteries broadly included the same elements: kiln drying chambers and associated structures such as worksheds, preparation floors, stores and sometimes accommodation for the workforce.

The site at Roman Way estate represents a range of interrelated Roman features, and has been shown by excavation to contain archaeological information relating to the use, construction and Roman occupation of the monument.

History

See Details.

Details

This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 24 November 2014. The record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records.

The monument includes the remains of a Roman villa, including a bath-house, a pottery works and an aqueduct surviving as buried archaeological remains. It is situated on flat ground south-west of the A325 Hale Road. An area of about 22m by 21m is preserved as the site of the bath house whilst further remains are covered by housing and the allotment gardens to the north-west. The site was excavated between 1946 and 1947. The villa buildings are thought to date to the 3rd and 4th century AD. These include one large room with a channelled hypocaust at one end, separated by a corridor from a bath complex of four rooms, two retaining hypocaust pillars and a plunge bath. The pottery works, of which the remains include a kiln, indicate a major period of output between AD 200 and AD 350. The associated aqueduct survived as an open ditch about 1.8m wide that ran south-east for a length of at least 182m to the Bourne Stream. The silting of the ditch contained samian and coarse ware pottery dating from the mid 2nd century to early 4th century AD. Pottery evidence across the site indicates that it was abandoned in about AD400.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

SU 120

Legacy System:

RSM - OCN

Sources

Other
Surrey HER 1715. NMR SU84NE5. PastScape 247161

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