Monument record 8177 - Roman Centurion's House (latera praetorii west) at St Martin's Way

A Roman centurion's house was recorded during archaeological investigations at St Martin's Way in the 1960s. The evidence, although slight, indicated several phases of activity throughout the Roman period beginning in the late first century with two phases of timber construction. In around 100 AD the first stone built structure was introduced to the site followed by a second phase of stone construction perhaps as little as 10 years later. The evidence from this period of activity was limited to traces of the timber phase structure. 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 may have lasted 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 at this site significant post Roman truncation severely limited the survival of archaeological features from this period. A single wall foundation dating to the third century was identified 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.