A Romano-British Settlement to the Rear of Denchworth Road, Wantage, Oxfordshire: Evaluation and Excavation in 1996 and 1998 By ALIST\JR B\RSF R and ELL HOLBROOK with contributions by PHIL ALSTI:'>I, j.\,\E BIRCHER, MDl FAlRBL R ... , PETER GUE 1, EMMA HARRISOI', MARK !'vIAL:1 BY, J. M. MILLS, JANE TIMBY and G R.\EM E WAl.K ER SUMMARY Evaluation and t."(('at'll/ion was undmaknz h)o eatm'old . trr/ult%gicai Trust In 1996 and /998 u,tthin a,t arrll of knoll'n Romflllo-Bnlish occupatIOn. EXC{ltl(J./lOtl rtlit'lll,d a tIlttallld traehu'll)" with flaukmg dlle/us, pial boundarits and Pils dalablt 10 I'" ptriod from Iht Icllt 1>1 10 tarl"r 211d cmlury. A Ihlck ruillmllall ho"';2On arrumulaltd across part oJ the StLt during 1M 2nd and lrd (tntll'). "pml which a ltont building U'G.S (onstructed aJter c. AD 270. ani) part of lilt buildmg Lay V'It/lUl tht excavation arta, and Jt was ~ttmmg'Y contained urithin a ditched roela.mrt. 71" butldi"g was (omJJrt'hmr;nJtl) dumont/td and ToblNd of budding maltrinls. and a .~h"d oj 6th- to 9th-emllll) pollt", was recol/fred from 01lt of tht robber Irenellts. ThlfUlLurt of Roman _~/ttlt1nt11t at "~mlagt' IS rn.rll'U-'t'd m tilt ltglll of tilt prtsmt and prt'l!iOlH dZs(ol't'n'ts. n 1996 The Vale Housing Association Ltd. applied for planning permission for a I residential de,·elopment on a 0.32 ha. land plot bet"een tockham Way and Denchwonh Road. The site was formerly allotments. Excavation and observation O\'er the last rew decades, and in particular an excavation at Mill Street in 1993~~I,1 has identified an emerging picture or Roman and axon activity in this pan or Wantage (Fig. I). Accordingly Oxfordshire Count} Council Archaeology Sen ice, on behalf of the Vale of White Ilorse District Council, required that the archaeological importance or the site be evaluated prior to determination of the planning application. In Janua", 1996 COLSwold Archaeological Tnls( eXGlvated two evaluation trenches within the site, re\ealing Romano-British ditched boundaries and possible pits (Fig. 2).2 The~e remain~ were \ulnerable to damage rrom the proposed de\elopment and, when planning permission was subsc<luenth granted. a condition was att..1ched requiring the prior excavation or two areas, totalling approximate!) 694 m.2, centred on the remains recorded within the evaluation trenches. Cotswold Archaeological Trust carried out the exca\·ation or these t\\'o areas, coded A and 8, between October and No\'embcr 1998. During the course or lhe exc3\,ation a signific~U1l and unexpected disco\'er) was made that could not reasonably have been predicted from the results or the evaluation. This comprised part or a Romano~l3riLish Slone building lying on the vel') edge or Area A. As the remaining part or this structure which lay wilhin the bounds J :\. Iiolbrook and A, Thomas. 'The Roman and f.ilrly Anglo.Saxon Settlement at Wantage, Oxfordsillre, Excavations at \Iill Slreel, 1993-4', Ol;lJtlU"IJ'Q, Ixi (1996), 171-6. 2 C. Baleman. 'Land off Denchworth Road. Wantage. O,rnrdshire: Archaeological balualion' ( I IS. Rep. 96336. 1996). :g'" ,. >-" 012471 • Pottery I Coin '" "~ • Burials _ 7540 A Road >'" D Ditch Z 0 w Well 7 A Church • Evaluations 0 • Wall r " , '"0 0 " ..,~ ,. r Fig. I ~1 < IP of Roman discoH'Ties III Wantage. NUlllbel"S refer to cntnes 011 ahe Oxlol'dshire Sites and Monuments Record. n ...... <- "\." () R I II R 0 \ 0 \\" A .... C\ (. .. :!91 of the development area was to be destroyed. additional emergency funding was secured from the \ 'ale Housing AssoCiation and English Heritage for the rapid lI1\estigation of a further area of some 300 m. 2 (termed area A+) with the primary objective of reco\ering the plan of lhe Slone building. Following completion of the site works an i.lsses~mel1l \,'as made of the main findings and a programme of anal)sis and research proposed. This strategy was apprmed b} Engli'h Heritage and Oxfordshire Count) Council. (md analysis commenced in \1arch 2000. Thi, repon presents the results of lhe eXC3\'3 tion and posl-exca\'ation phases. LOCAl ION, TOPOGRAPHY A lD GEOLOGY I he site lies wilhm the Belmont ared of Wanwge. approximatd.,.' 800 m NW. of the town (entre. II is lora It'd \\'. of Den(hwonh Road on a plateau alxH'c the W slopes of the Letcoll1be Brook at between 9i.5 m, and 9H.25 m. 00, «(enoed on 'GR: SL 394 883) (Fig. 2). Ihe British Geological Sun'ey maps the surface geology of the study area ,I.!. Pleistocene Upper Green\<\nd. «(lI1~istinK of slirT clays and marl \\Ilh pocket'!! of silt) day underlain by a stiff Sdndy silt.,., cia} 1 -{,~ 1 STOCKHAM WAY o m Z () / I ~ j, B ::J I B4 / II JJ §? 1/ " o /I • f .. t " ,r '< " I / - Bulldmg outJl/'le rf- 1996 evaluatlOll I trel'lChes Comel..., % 1998 excavation / areas / _ ArchaeologICal features 8 0 100m '"" Flg.2 Location of the e"aiuation illld excavation trenches. ~92 \ Ii '\ R n .. RAN D N J 10 I. U R () () K f I A I .. Area B )>­ r - ALL PERIODS Archaeological features () and excavated areas • _ Stone building • Evaluation trench Area A Area A+ , 51 0___ -= SCm Fig.:t h.ta\.lIt'cllt',UlIll'.. , .tli pt''fiod .. I) t- .... (. 11 \\ 0 R I J I R ().-\ f) \\ \ .... I \ C. t- 1<B lX( \\ \TIO,\ \llTIiODOLOGY \1I01111t."11I SOIl ...... IS rel11oH:d b~ a m«hanifal eXCd\ator. II'lIiing .1 IOOlhle grading budel. under coostant althaeolf)~Kal upen i<;ioll. fhis re\ealed a ... ubsnil horiwn ..... Ilich lli.lnd-<:Icaning re\·ealed to be CUI In a selle, of hal1u\\ . .lmmphou "oops. 111CM" fC.ltures "cre ..... nnpled .Inc! a number discounted a (rer root dl."urbJllct,<; and .lllolmem-reialed fealUrc~. ·nH~· .,Ub"'oil ""',1 sub ... <.-quenth trial pitted and .. amplt.'d bdOle hc:mg It.'mo\l'"d b\ machlllc to LIlt.' Je\el of Ihe natural gn:t"m.lI1(h . Tllt.' maUl e,(.l\aUOIl obJecti\e~ ..... efe ICI 1 «O\l"r the plom and LfUC(lII-.tl \equenc.e aCTOVi the 'illt'. \II pm and pmtholes ..... erc hall·\(.'"tlioned .md all linear feature, .1., .1 nllllHllum S(xuoned once b, hand (Fig. 3) .. \11 .,lfUUUI.ll leaunes were IOtal" eXQ\·.uen. l)riOIlI, .... a., illlached It) realure... \ieldlllg sealed .. ,-.emblages Ih'lI wuld Ix: related In lhc .,truclllrdl -.equen<e.:. and Ih()'ie ..... Iudt }ic::ldl"d biological remains 01 potential pal.wu. cminmmemal inlel(:.,l. \ full ..... rillen. c1rot" " and photographic recnrd was made" EXCAVATIO RESULTS "'IX ptlltKi-, of alli\ II)" were identified through '1lrdtlgraplllt .. eI<lIl()mhip~, orientO:luon and .1 comidcr.ltion oj Ihe d.tlinK e\idcfI(c" TIlt,. , are: Pt.'riod 0: I·c.,idual prehistoric ancfacts Pt."nnd I: late 1"1 to mid 2nd centuries AD Period 2; mid 2nd 10 mid .:lrd cenlurie..,\[) Pcriod ;\: mid :kd (0 !;ue IIh cellluries.\O Peri(xi ·1 : .Ifler Ihe lale ·hh (emu!") Pt.' TUxl 5: und.mod. pml-mec:lie\al and modem PlRIOD 0 (RESI DL \L PRE111S'1OR1C .\RTEh\CTS) '\0 fealul es \\f' rt: found Ihal could be wlldusi\"eh altnhllu~d 10 the prehistoric period, although a sm.11I ,IS.,elllhJ.Igt' of .IIIt'faCIS "CI:o. recO\ered from I"e~iduill COIllt."IS au()<;s the site. The total of 3·1 flllllS form .1 1.IIW:h t1l1dat.lhle 'l~selllblage although 'ic\('rJI ~mClJl finc b"lde~ suggcsi tht· presenu' of il ~fcwlilhic wllIpollC'nt. 'IllCleell .,herds or prehi3torit pOllen wert." also found. One ~herd :o.ugge~t3 pOSSible e.1rh· tf) middle I\nm/(' \~t.. aCII\II) in the loc~i1ity but mO\1 uf tht' ils~cmbl.l~e i... ((llllp<ltiblc with a middle HI late lion ..\Ke dalt." PERIOD I (LUI:: ISl TO ~lID 2ND CEN"1 URY AD) Within Ihe arca sub-,eqllt.·nth occupied b~ the I)enod :l ~{()nc building it \'oi13 only possible 10 eXCH"iUe limned al"c"I'i clf)\~n onto Ihe surface of the nalUral sub·lUil. the il'\el ill \\ hich Pellod 1 features \'oere rtXogniscd Within this areJ (. \1 ea .v.\+) a ~eties of II unc.llcd \uh-( irC"uliu pit .... \'olth gellllv-!>Ioping sides and bru.ldh 1I.1t b.l~. (ut the IMlUral gn:emand!> and contained charC"u.d-ri(h !>il,,<la~ fill .. (Fig. 4). 1 he truncated IMtUH!' of the le.llllr('s 'iugf.;e ... ts th.1I the} had been (ut lrom it higher le\el. their upper edges ha\ing been 1".,1 due to ,ubst'tllll"m re\\mklllg of the O\t.'1 h ing delX)Slt thl ough agIKuhurc.'. \ CUI \ Ihneal" ditch 121·1. O.S In. hide .... ilh it 1ll."lmllm cil-plh 01 0. 1::1 Ill .. became eXllenH:h \h,dlcm ",hen.' il litn to the Sl .lIld must ha\e tcrmin.tlt"d Ix:nt.";.uh a lelalll<.'d baulL to be replaced In i1 dU'lIt'1 uf ... mall pit' or pt)<;th()le~. Tim dnch Illlght ha\c formed ".m of .1Il ilKI"I( uhlir-II ur dome"ic endmure. ,t1lh()ugh .1Il intel pn:t.lliun ;is the drip gulh of a r()undholl~t' \\ilh tht.· pm .md JXhlhole., marL-inK one <ilde of .1 SI· f.I(lIlg cmrallce i\ ('(llIalh possible.