Monument record 8165 - Roman Centurion's House (latera praetorii west) at Princess Street

Archaeological investigations in 1965 and again in 1994 to the rear of Hunter Street identified evidence of a Roman structure believed to be a centurion’s house. The investigations consisted evidence recovered from trench 6 of excavations at St Martin’s Fields in 1965 (Centurial House III) and evidence from trench 3 of excavations in 1994. In all, six phases of Roman activity were identified beginning with at least two phases of timber construction the late first century, elements of which was recorded in both 1965 and 1994/5. This was followed in around 100 AD with a further two possible phases of stone rebuilding, which was not observed in either investigation due to later truncation. This is followed by a period of abandonment or reduced activity characterised elsewhere as the mid second century ‘military hiatus’ period, which in this area appeared to last until the early third century. The final phase of activity from around 220AD onwards is characterised by the demolition of any structural remains and the construction of entirely new buildings, however, significant post Roman truncation severely limited the survival of archaeological features from this period. The evidence from this phase primarily comes from the 1965 excavations and consists of a number of robbed out wall trenches and some evidence of internal floor surfaces. Legionary barrack blocks each accommodated a century of 80 men plus their officers, and were normally arranged in groups of 6 (a cohort of 480 men). Narrow streets gave access to facing pairs of barracks. The centurions' quarters were situated at the ends of the barracks, adjacent to a major road - either the perimeter road (via sagularis) or main transverse street (via principalis). The centurions' quarters were divided from those of the rank-and-file by a narrow alley. They were wider than the men's quarters but lacked a veranda. In ground plan they consisted of a corridor with rooms (including a private latrine) opening off on each side. The men's quarters consisted on 14 (later 11 or 12) units of two rooms for approximately eight men, fronted by a veranda that often contained an enclosed latrine at one end. The outer room was used to store equipment; the inner was for living and sleeping and contained a hearth. Only 10 pairs of rooms should have been needed to accommodate a century; the purpose of the spare rooms is uncertain. The first barracks were constructed using a timber frame with wattle-and-daub infilled panels. These timber barracks underwent a varying number of re-buildings in a relatively short period of time. From about AD 100, there was intermittent rebuilding in stone (perhaps with timber superstructures). However, there were also periods of abandonment. A comprehensive rebuilding was finally undertaken in the early third century. These barracks had much the same plan as their timber predecessors. A diminished number of barracks continued to be occupied into the fourth century.