Reasons for Designation
Romano-British farmsteads were small-scale agricultural units, containing
domestic and agricultural buildings, sometimes set within an enclosure, from
which both arable and pastoral farming were carried out, probably by members
of a single family. Most farmsteads contain none of the evidence for personal
wealth which occurs on the larger villa sites and are generally regarded as
being of low status in the social hierarchy of Roman Britain.
Some farmsteads were first occupied during the Iron Age and continued in use
into the Roman period. Indeed farmsteads presently known to have been founded
after AD50 are relatively infrequent and appear to be concentrated in areas
such as the Fenlands, east Yorkshire, the coastal plain of Sussex and in the
vicinity of Hadrian's Wall. Most of these new sites date from the second
century AD and were occupied for between 100 and 150 years.
Farmsteads have a widespread distribution throughout Britain. Recorded
examples surviving as earthworks are usually sited on high rather than low
land, generally on marginal farmland and frequently clustered at a distance of
1km apart.
Although around 1000 examples are recorded nationally, this is thought to be
only a small proportion of those in existence in Roman times.
The Romano-British farmstead on Teg Down survives well and is an outstanding
example of its class. It is rare to find this type of monument in an extant
condition in a lowland setting, since the majority of such sites have been
levelled by ploughing and can be seen only as soil or crop marks from the air.
The site is also unusual in the survival of a close association between the
farmstead and its associated field system to the north and east and a stock
enclosure to the south.
Details
The monument on Teg Down includes a Romano-British farmstead, represented by a
small quadrangular enclosure, and the surviving elements of an associated
enclosure and field system. The site has a prominent setting on the crest of
a steep-sided slope in an area of chalk downland.
The farmstead enclosure is defined by a ditch and an internal bank. The ditch
is now up to 1m deep and 8m in width at the top. The interior of the
enclosure is crossed in a north east-south west direction by two ditches. The
west ditch is 1.25m deep and 6.7m wide; the east ditch, partially covered by
the construction of a tee area, is 0.4m deep and 1.5m wide.
On the northern side of the enclosure is an outer bank. This continues round
the north west corner, then turns away south west, and then turns east and
continues to form an outwork enclosing an area of 0.75ha to the south of the
farmstead. The bank is some 2.5m high. Outside the bank on its southern side
is a ditch 1m deep by 5.8m wide; this continues for some 25m north east beyond
the present survival of the bank.
The field system is represented by lynchets and low earthworks to the north
and east of the two enclosures. The western of the two lynchets which abut the
farmstead enclosure on the north side stands to a height of 2m and appears to
be overlain by the enclosure. The other visible elements of the field system
generally survive as slighter earthworks although the most prominent lynchet
to the east stands between 1.5m-2m in height.
The tee, including the concrete seat, which has been constructed on the
monument, is excluded from the scheduling although the ground, below the level
of the tee mound, is included. The boundary fence, where it is used as part of
the southern boundary of the monument, is excluded, but the ground beneath
is included.
MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 10 metre boundary around the archaeological features,
considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.
