A Roman Building at Southbroom School, Devizes, Wiltshire by Andy Taylor with Contributions by J

66Wiltshire ArchaeologicalTHE & Natural WILTSHIRE History Magazine, ARCHAEOLOGICAL vol. 106 (2013), pp. 66-80 AND NATURAL HISTORY MAGAZINE A Roman building at Southbroom School, Devizes, Wiltshire by Andy Taylor with contributions by J. R. L. Allen, Lucy Cramp, Steve Ford, Kevin Hayward, Matilda Holmes and Malcolm Lyne Roman burials, some in coffins, had previously been found during construction of Southbroom School in Devizes. Excavation prior to new construction work revealed three phases of Roman activity on the site. The earliest phase principally comprised a ditch dated to the 2nd century, perhaps part of an enclosure. Later activity was dominated by a building, perhaps a workshop, dated to the early 4th century, with a late 3rd century hollow beneath it. Introduction archaeology has recently been summarized (WCAS 2004)��. Six Roman burials were revealed during Thames Valley Archaeological Services Ltd carried the construction of the school in the early 1960s, out an archaeological excavation at Southbroom including one in a lead coffin and one stone coffin. A School, Devizes, Wiltshire (NGR SU 0122 6084) further burial was recorded near the football ground, (Figure 1), between 18 July and 15 August 2006, to the south. A settlement was identified to the west supervised by the author. The work was required in in 1861, during excavation of a railway cutting, with order to comply with a condition placed on planning further Iron Age and Roman settlement found in the consent for construction of a new respite facility. 1990s, at Wayside Farm to the south and Nursteed The site is located in the grounds of Southbroom Farm to the east. School, less than 1km from the historic core of Devizes and is mostly surrounded by school The evaluation buildings, playing fields and a car park, with An evaluation was carried out on the site in March residential properties to the east bounded by 2006 (Wallis 2006). Two of the four trenches Nursteed Road. The natural geology comprises contained archaeological features: part of a gully Upper Greensand (BGS 1985), which was observed (1002) initially dated to the 2nd century AD (more across the excavation area, and the site lies at a height fully excavated, this ditch was of later date) and a of approximately 127m above OD. large 3rd/4th century feature, part of a structure The archaeological potential of the site was (1003) (below). The trenches also contained a buried highlighted by Ms Sue Farr��, Assistant Archaeologist soil layer above the archaeological features that with Wiltshire County Council, and the town’s contained 3rd- and 4th-century pottery. Thames Valley Archaeological Services, 47-49 De Beauvoir Road, Reading RG1 5NR A ROMAN BUILDING at SOUTHBROOM SCHOOL, DEVIZES, Wiltshire 67 62000 Image Area Castle A361 Swindon Chippenham 61000 Marlborough DEVIZES Trowbridge SITE A 342 60000 0 6 DEVIZES 3 A Potterne Salisbury 59000 ST99000 SU00000 01000 02000 N N ur ste ed Ro ad (A 34 2) 60900 4 2 3 1 Southbroom C of E Junior School SITE 60800 SU01100 01200 01300 0 100m Fig. 1 Location of site in Wiltshire and Devizes, showing excavation area and evaluation trenches (numbered). features (Figure 2), including a ditch, two gullies The Excavation and the remains of a Roman building, which were then hand excavated. Having been characterized in A roughly L-shaped area, 28m x 12m, identified by the evaluation, the buried soil sealing the features evaluation as having archaeological potential, was was stripped mechanically. mechanically stripped to expose the archaeological 68 THE WILTSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY MAGAZINE Image Area N Tr. 4 Modern service 60860 2 100 Building 1003 3 (see Figure 4) Tr. 2 1000 Tr. 3 109 105 1001 106 104 60840 108 1 102/3 1002 Tr. 1 107 SU01200 01220 01240 0 20m Fig. 2 Plan of excavation area showing all features Ditch 1000 a terminal at its northern end. Only five pieces of This 30m long ditch was aligned approximately 2nd-century pottery were retrieved from the three SW–NE and turned north-westerly, continuing excavated segments (102, 105, 108). under the car park. Four slots (100, 103, 104 and 109) were excavated along its length, showing that it was Gully 1002 1.60–2.10m wide and 0.19–0.40m deep (Figure 3). Gully 1002 was also aligned NNW-SSE and A substantial group (182 sherds) of Roman pottery terminated at its northern end. It was 7.50m in was recovered, along with several pieces of animal length and had three slots dug through it (1, 106 bone. The ditch seems to have been infilled during and 107) that produced nineteen sherds of pottery the 2nd century AD and the curve of this feature producing a date in the 3rd or 4th century, and a suggests an enclosure, much earlier than the later 4th-century coin. This feature does not appear to building. The position of the ditch and the relative be comtemporary with ditch 1000, but may instead density of pottery, especially in slot (100), suggests relate to building 1003. occupation in the immediate vicinity, beneath the modern car park. No stratigraphic relationship could Building 1003 (Figures 4 and 5) be established between the ditch and gully (1001); A rectangular building encountered at the northern it is likely they were contemporary. end of the site was divided into four quadrants leaving a cross-shaped section. Initial surface Gully 1001 cleaning identified a wall of irregular chalk lumps This gully was c. 9m long, aligned NNW–SSE, with and sandstone fragments, along the southern edge of Wilts Journal A ROMAN BUILDING at SOUTHBROOM SCHOOL, DEVIZES, Wiltshire 69 1000 1001 1000 WSW ENE NNW SSE/NE SW Image Area 125.51mAOD 125.78m 151 150 154 153 152 102 103 101 100 1000 1001 ENE 1002 WSW E W SSE NNW125.69m 126.02m 125.85m 155 159 158 104 108 107 Wilts Journal 0 1m Fig. 3 Sections of ditches N Image Area 117 A: Hollow and Investigation slots 112 111 126 124 113 118 Limit of excavation 121 123 120 115 125 119 122 114 116 k Baul 131 127 130 128 129 Eval. Tr. 2 B: Structure of building 1003 124 126.16m 121 115 189 clay floor 126.12m 161 251 257 mortar 190 chalk floor 126.21m 199 126.12m 190 110 0 10m Fig. 4 Detailed plan of building 1003, showing investigation slots and extent of hollow (above), and building elements (below). Wilts Journal 70 THE WILTSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY MAGAZINE N S S N 126.22m 126.19m 169 Image Area 166 167 168 115 165 170 114 112 116 113 N S 126.21m 175 176 171 177 173 119 172 174 117 118 S 260 N/W 258 E S N 126.16m 257 179 255 132 120 164 133 259 256 178 131 111 N S S N 126.12m 126.17m 180 181 185 184 186 182 121 187 124 122 183 125 188 123 126 N S N S 126.18m 126.12m 191 161 199 192 193 198 110 127 130 250 194 251 195 252 128 129 0 5m Fig. 5 Sections of building 1003. the structure, with patches of floor layers consisting also retrieved indicating metalworking, although of a light yellowy brown beaten surface with the absence of crucibles and furnace lining suggests occasional sandstone fragments (most likely wall that such activities took place in the vicinity rather tumble), with three postholes along the northern than in the hollow itself. Other finds, such as the edge suggesting a wooden frontage. hobnails from a shoe/boot and a quantity of tile and The building was set within a hollow c.0.90m roofing stone, also represent redeposited material. At deep, similar to an Anglo-Saxon Grübenhaus the base of slot (120), a coin of Severus Alexander, (Sunken Featured Building), although on a larger AD 222–35, was found on the surface of the natural scale. The hollow contained 154 sherds of later 3rd greensand. A hole had been drilled through the century pottery and large amounts of animal bone coin to make a pendant and its discard may be throughout its sandy fill. Large amounts of slag were contemporary with the later 3rd-century pottery. A ROMAN BUILDING at SOUTHBROOM SCHOOL, DEVIZES, Wiltshire 71 Along the northern edge of the building was Table 1: Summary quantification of pottery by fabric a possible ditch (117), perhaps a return of ditch Fabric No Wt (g) % no. % wt (1000) if such continued beneath the car park and A1 3 1163 turned again, although no 2nd century pottery was A2 1 45 recovered. The building cut through the fill of this AX 1 6 ditch. amphorae 5 1214 0.7% 11.3% C1 3 27 The easternmost edge of the building lacked C2 3 38 a hollow, with a construction cut directly into the C3 1 7 natural greensand. This may represent a separate C4 93 4595 section of the structure, which continued outside C5 14 131 the excavation area, lacking the under floor storage C5A 150 1527 C5B 10 121 area of the main section of the building. C6 12 35 The floor layers comprised crushed chalk and C6A 78 451 areas of opus signinum (waterproof cement with C6B 3 15 crushed tile). Neither of these deposits showed C6C 5 77 C7 2 4 evidence of in-situ tiles set into them, although C8 9 37 several floor tiles were recovered. It is also possible C9 8 98 that these patches of apparent floor deposit may C10 2 13 result from collapse from the surrounding structure. C11 1 5 C12 19 40 The lack of a tiled floor suggests a workshop or C13A 2 6 outbuilding rather than a dwelling.

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