Roman Settlement, 390m north-east of New House Farm

Summary

The buried remains of a Roman-British roadside settlement which was occupied during the first and second centuries AD and possibly through to the third or fourth centuries.

Reasons for Designation

The Romano-British settlement to the north-east of New House Farm is scheduled for the following principal reasons:
* Survival: despite being under cultivation, it survives well as buried deposits and preserves considerable detail of its plan;
* Documentation: the settlement is well-documented archaeologically, with evidence from field walking and excavation;
* Potential: archaeological investigations have indicated that it retains valuable information relating to the development of the settlement and this will also facilitate further studies of Romano-British settlement patterns and land use in the area more generally;
* Regional significance: the quantity and form of the pottery from the site has indicated that it had a close association with early military establishments in the area; the site will therefore contribute significantly to the study of Romanisation.

History

Romano-British settlements began to emerge in the mid-first century AD. However, the majority of larger settlements appeared in the later first and second centuries, whilst the third and fourth centuries saw the growth and development of existing establishments, together with the emergence of a small number of new ones. Some have their origins in earlier military sites such as fort-vici and developed into independent settlements following the abandonment of forts. Others developed alongside roads and were able to exploit a wide range of commercial opportunities as a result of their location. Settlements vary enormously in site type and size. Romano-British farmsteads, typified by rectilinear or curvilinear enclosures, were the most numerous and existed prior to and throughout the Roman period. Other small-scale nucleated settlements include compact villages which comprise much more extensive spreads of settlement activity; and linear villages or 'ladder' settlements which are dominated by a single axis street or trackway. Additionally there are sites that are perhaps best regarded as 'rural' but which display what may be termed 'urban' attributes. This is especially the case with the large number of roadside settlements, that focus on major and other Roman roads and display elements of planning that morphologically set them apart from most linear not only did such settlements draw their existence from rural activities such as farming, but also acted as local foci for trade and, where possible, exploiting their location on the road; some also developed specialist functions, such as mining complexes and manufacturing

The Romano-British site to the north-east of New House Farm, and north of Parlour Coppice, was identified by at least the mid-C20 through the recovery over many years of substantial quantities of Roman artefacts within the plough soil horizon. The finds included an extensive assemblage of early Roman pottery. In 1969 field walking led to suggestions that the buried archaeological remains within the field to the north-east of New House Farm were those of an extensive farmstead settlement. Further archaeological investigations in 1996-7, however, as part of the Wroxeter Hinterland Project (a survey of the settlement pattern for the Wroxeter region) and in 2009 which included a geophysical survey and partial excavation confirmed that the site is an unenclosed Romano-British roadside settlement. Pottery and coins from the site have shown that it was occupied from the first century AD, with evidence for activity continuing into the second century and, at some level, into the third or perhaps fourth century.

Although some 18km to the south-east, the settlement is located within the hinterland of Wroxeter (Viroconium Cornoviorum) which was originally a military base established in the mid-first century AD that grew from the second century into the fourth largest town in Roman Britain and the civitas capital of the Cornovii, an Iron Age tribe.  Early military establishments had a significant impact on the local area, influencing native custom and settlement patterns.  Their role in the Romanisation of Britain is therefore of particular importance, with those settlements in their hinterland being some of the first to demonstrate the impact of these new influences. The settlement to the north-east of New House Farm lies within this zone of influence and finds from the site, which confirm its occupation from at least the end of the first century AD, demonstrate that it was closely linked with the nearby military establishment, sharing access to the same regional and overseas pottery suppliers, for instance.

Details

The site includes the buried archaeological remains of a Romano-British roadside settlement to the north-east of New House Farm which lies on a slight plateau that slopes towards Parlour Coppice to the south-east.

Investigations in the late C20 and early C21, including field walking, a geophysical survey and small excavation, revealed the buried remains of the Romano-British settlement including a road defined by ditches that is orientated north-west to south-east. There is a clear focus of occupation and structural activity to either side of the road including the remains of a number of close-set rectangular building plots, probably housing workshops and domestic residences. The excavation in 2009 also uncovered a possible furnace base, pits and other features which indicate industrial activities including metalworking at the site. A large assemblage of pottery has also been recovered, including some 1500 Roman sherds. They include a mixture of continental and regionally-traded wares such as Samian ware which, in form and decoration is characteristic of the Hadrianic-Antonine phase but also included pottery from the Claudian-Flavian and Trajanic-Hadrianic phases; Rhenish; Malvernian and Severn Valley wares; also amphorae and more Romanised vessels such as flagons, beakers and mortaria. Other finds include coins, brooches, other metalwork, quern stones and tegula tile as well as some prehistoric pottery and flints.

Sources

Books and journals
White, R, Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological Society in Fieldwork Carried Out By The Wroxeter Hinterland Project 1994-7, (1997)
Toms, G, Shropshire Newsletter in Parlour Coppice, Upton Cressett, (1970)
White, R H, British Archaeology, No. 17 in Wroxeter, Rich in a Wealthy Land, (1996)
Gaffney, V L, White, RH, Journal of Roman Archaeology Supplementary Series, No. 68 in Wroxeter, the Cornovii, and the Urban Process. Final Report on the Wroxeter Hinterland Project 1994-1997, (2007)

End of official list entry

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