Reasons for Designation
Roman roads were artificially made-up routes introduced to Britain by the
Roman army from c.AD 43. They facilitated both the conquest of the
province and its subsequent administration. Their main purpose was to
serve the Cursus Publicus, or Imperial mail service. Express messengers
could travel up to 150 miles (241km) per day on the network of Roman roads
throughout Britain and Europe, changing horses at wayside `mutationes'
(posting stations set every 8 miles (12.87km) on major roads) and stopping
overnight at `mansiones' (rest houses located every 20-25 miles
(32km-40km). In addition, throughout the Roman period and later, Roman
roads acted as commercial routes and became foci for settlement and
industry. Mausolea were sometimes built flanking roads during the Roman
period while, in the Anglian and medieval periods, Roman roads often
served as property boundaries. Although a number of roads fell out of use
soon after the withdrawal of Rome from the province in the fifth century
AD, many have continued in use down to the present day and are
consequently sealed beneath modern roads.
On the basis of construction technique, two main types of Roman road are
distinguishable. The first has widely spaced boundary ditches and a broad
elaborate agger comprising several layers of graded materials. The second
usually has drainage ditches and a narrow simple agger of two or three
successive layers. In addition to ditches and construction pits flanking
the sides of the road, features of Roman roads can include central stone
ribs, kerbs and culverts, not all of which will necessarily be
contemporary with the original construction of the road. With the
exception of the extreme south-west of the country, Roman roads are widely
distributed throughout England and extend into Wales and lowland Scotland.
They are highly representative of the period of Roman administration and
provide important evidence of Roman civil engineering skills as well as
the pattern of Roman conquest and settlement. A high proportion of
examples exhibiting good survival are considered to be worthy of
protection.
Linear settlements are one of the characteristic rural settlement forms of
the Roman period. They developed as strings of farmsteads within
rectilinear plots arranged along tracks, drove ways and Roman roads,
frequently sited close to spring lines. Both the buildings and associated
field systems also tended to be rectilinear in form, although the earlier
tradition of round houses sometimes persisted. Although primary based on
mixed farming, there is often evidence for small scale craft working,
especially in later periods. Also, finds of coins show that the
inhabitants were typically, at least to some extent, integrated with the
Roman monetary economy. Excavated examples suggest that most linear
settlements were established within 40 years either side of AD 100 and
were continuously occupied up to the fifth century. However some appear to
have been deliberately cleared in the fourth century to be replaced by
Roman villa complexes. Initially buildings were normally timber, probably
with thatched roofs, with stone and tile becoming commonly used in the
later Roman period. Although some houses exhibit sophisticated building
techniques or non-local building materials, their occupants appear to have
had a comfortable rather than opulent lifestyle. Linear settlements often
have a shrine, small religious building or other evidence of ritual
activity. Human burials, typically inhumations, were frequently scattered
throughout the settlement, normally close to the plot boundaries farthest
away from the road frontage. This contrasts with the typical urban
practice of concentrating burials within cemeteries. Romano-British linear
settlements are usually identified from cropmarks on aerial photographs.
All examples that retain upstanding earthworks will be considered to be of
national importance. A number of levelled sites that still retain
undisturbed archaeological deposits will also be of national importance
and worthy of protection.
Beginning in the fifth century AD, there is evidence for the immigration
of settlers into Britain from northern Europe, bringing new religious
beliefs. This evidence includes distinctive burial practices and new
forms of pottery, metalwork and other items. Roman towns appear to have
gone into rapid decline and the old rural settlement pattern to have been
disrupted. Although some Romano British settlements and cemeteries
continued in use, the native Britons rapidly adopted many of the cultural
practices of the new settlers and it soon becomes difficult to distinguish
them in the archaeological record. So-called Anglian cemeteries are dated
to the early Anglo-Saxon period, from the fifth to the seventh centuries
AD. With the conversion to Christianity during the late sixth and seventh
centuries AD, these pagan cemeteries appear to have been abandoned in
favour of new sites, some of which have continued in use up to the present
day. Burial practices included both inhumation and cremation. Anglian
inhumation cemeteries consist predominantly of inhumation burials which
were placed in rectangular pits in the ground, occasionally within
coffins. The bodies were normally accompanied by a range of grave goods,
including jewellery and weaponry. The cemeteries vary in size, the largest
containing several hundred burials. Around 1000 inhumation cemeteries have
been recorded in England. They represent one of our principal sources of
archaeological evidence about the Early Anglo-Saxon period, providing
information on population, social structure and ideology. All surviving
examples, other than those which have been heavily disturbed, are
considered worthy of protection.
Although Bainesse Roman settlement is important in its own right,
retaining well-preserved extensive remains, it is of particular note for
its close relationship to the Roman town and fort of Cataractonium. The
Anglian period burials add significant additional interest to the
monument.
Details
The monument includes the buried remains of a Roman roadside settlement
and associated features around Bainesse. It also includes a section of
Dere Street Roman road, which survives as an upstanding earthwork to the
south of the modern buildings of Bainesse, and an area of Anglian burials
to the north. The settlement lies just over 2km south east of the Roman
town of Cataractonium, which is the subject of a separate scheduling.
In circa 1800, during the construction of Bainesse farmhouse, a square
arched vault was uncovered built with Roman bricks. Further Roman finds
were uncovered in the area later in the 19th and 20th centuries including
a flight of steps that were uncovered and back filled in the 1940s under
one of Bainese's barns. In 1959, during the construction of the A1
Catterick bypass, a number of early Anglian burials overlying walls and
spreads of Roman pottery were noted to the south of Tunstall Road Bridge.
Since the 1970s further archaeological investigations, including
geophysical survey and excavation, have identified further Roman remains
including buildings, burials and a pottery kiln. Most of this work is
detailed in the two volume `Cataractonium: Roman Catterick and its
hinterland', by P R Wilson, published in 2002. However, new discoveries
continue as demonstrated by the subsequent find of a Roman burial to the
north west of Bainesse Lodge.
To date there is no definite evidence of any pre-Roman occupation within
the monument, although geophysical survey data indicates a possible area
of native British style occupation just west of the monument, about 300m
west of Bainesse, beyond Catterick Lane. The earliest dated evidence for
settlement within the monument is a set of rectangular, Roman style timber
buildings that predate the Emperor Hadrian (AD 117) and may be as early as
AD 80. This makes the settlement roughly contemporary with the
establishment of the first fort and associated settlement at
Cataractonium. By AD 150 the settlement around Bainesse was well
established with a number of stone buildings as well as timber. Towards
the end of the second century at least one building had underfloor heating
provided by a hypercaust. Although never overtly high status, finds,
particularly of glass and pottery, suggest that the settlement's
prosperity peaked in the third century. At the same time however, at least
part of the northern area of the settlement appears to have been
abandoned. There is some evidence for continued occupation into the early
fourth century, but by this time the settlement is thought to have been in
overall decline. This decline may have been the result of the
establishment of a villa partly revealed by excavation in 1939 and 1966
about 500m to the east of the monument within the area of Marne Barracks.
Excavated evidence suggests that the settlement supported itself on a
mixture of agriculture and small scale craft activity, including
blacksmithing, copper alloy working and pottery production. For instance
Bainesse includes the only positively identified pottery kiln within the
Catterick area. The settlement is also thought to have served the needs of
travellers along Dere Street and may have been a transhipment point
between the Roman road and the River Swale to the east. Although Bainesse
is thought to have been a civilian settlement, finds of military equipment
suggest that the Roman army had some sort of presence or involvement with
the settlement. Buildings generally fronted onto Dere Street, sometimes
with a second range of buildings behind. Although it may never have been
all occupied at the same time, the settlement extended for at least 1.25km
along the road. Around the built-up area of the settlement were small
paddocks and enclosures, sometimes including scattered human burials and
areas of industrial activity with a more extensive field system beyond.
One of the Roman burials, that of a young man wearing jewellery, may be
that of a `gallus', a self-castrated follower of the goddess Cybele.
Early post-Roman settlement in the general area of the monument was
probably quite dispersed, no direct evidence of occupation has been
identified within the monument. However in addition to the burials
disturbed by road building in 1959, eight sixth century Anglian burials
were excavated in 1981-82 around 200m north of Bainesse. Further
unexcavated Anglian burials forming a wider cemetery are expected to
survive in adjacent areas and are included within the monument.
Excavation has shown that Roman material around Bainesse is frequently
deeply stratified. Deposits to the north of Bainesse for instance were
typically around 0.7m thick, extending up to 2m below the modern ground
surface. To the south of Bainesse, an early surface of Dere Street was
exposed 1.3m below the modern ground surface. Surviving Roman remains are
expected beneath modern roads and buildings and are thus included within
the monument.
A number of features are excluded from the scheduling: these are all
modern buildings, structures, fences, walls, stiles, gates, water troughs,
telegraph and other poles, sign posts and all road and path surfaces. The
ground beneath all these features is, however, included. The embankment
carrying the minor road over the A1 is also excluded from the scheduling
with the exception of its lowest metre which is included to protect the
underlying archaeology. Fence and wall lines defining the boundaries of
the monument lie immediately outside the protected area.
MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
