Monument record 177/2/2 - Roman occupation activity at Kingsley Fields, Nantwich

<1> Arrowsmith, P & Power D., 2012, Roman Nantwich: A Salt-Making Settlement, BAR British Series 557 (Monograph). SCH7339.

Archaeological investigations at Kingsley Fields, Nantwich between 2001 and 2002 uncovered the remains of a Roman settlement with industrial activity and a small cremation cemetery alongside a Roman road. The remains are the first clear evidence of Roman activity in Nantwich associated with the salt-making industry and provide evidence of a road linking the settlement with the main road to the northwest.

The investigations comprised the evaluation of 33 trial trenches and two test pits along with geophysical survey, metal detecting and fieldwalking surveys over a substantial area to the north of Welsh Row in 2001 followed by the more detailed excavation of several area that exhibited strong archaeological potential for Roman remains.

The remains of an area of occupation was encountered in the main area of excavation consisting of a large enclosure, a U shaped enclosure and traces of three buildings to the southwest of the road along with a plank based pit. Several hearths were probably used for the evaporation of brine to produce salt with similar examples encountered at Middlewich. Additional features encountered across this occupation area include a number of pits and linear features. Finds associated with the site suggest a period of activity between the 2nd century to mid 4th century AD.

Building 1 at the southern end of the excavation area was identified as two parallel rows of postholes on a northeast to southwest alignment built at right angles to the road. The building appears in fact to have been two adjoining buildings each of four bays approximately 12m in length and 5.5m in width. Pottery and finds from Building 1 suggest a mid 2nd century date of construction while quantities of charred plant remains from within suggest it was used as a granary that had suffered damage by fire at some point in the late 2nd to early 3rd century.

Building 2 was located to the north of Building 1 and although also at right angles to the road it was not on the same alignment as the first building. Building 2 was sub-rectangular in form, narrowing towards the western end and measured 18m in length and 4.5-5.2m in width. The remains of this building comprised a series of postholes defining the northern wall of the building and a linear trench on the southern wall [3011/3069]. It was less well defined than the first building and may have been more temporary in nature. A possible fence-line identified as a series of small postholes ran on a north-south alignment linked the two buildings.

Buildings 1 and 2 were enclosed by a series of ditches identified along the north, west and south sides forming a large enclosure that had been recut on several occasions. The northern arm of the enclosure was located immediately north of Building 2 and measured approximately 23.4m in length, the western arm was aligned north-south and measured 30m in length while the southern arm was 20m in length. The eastern arm likely utilised the south road ditch.

Immediately north of the large enclosure lay a smaller, U shaped enclosure surrounding Building 5, a planked pit and a series of hearths. The enclosure comprised a long curvilinear ditch measuring 36m in length of a possible third century date with the southern ditch running parallel to the northern ditch of the large enclosure. The ditch enclosed a space that was 12.5m in length and 7-9.5m in width and open sided to the west. A section excavated across the ditch revealed the remains of at least one post setting [3138].

Building 5 was identified in the northeast corner of the U shaped enclosure and appears to consist of a possible four post structure in the form of pits [3212, 3201, 3168, 3389] of similar dimensions. Finds recovered from the building suggest it was constructed in the late 2nd to 3rd century. The planked pit [3359] was recorded immediately south of Building 5. It measured 2m wide and 0.45m deep with a clay lining overlain by five oak planks forming the base of the pit with evidence of a wicker lining for the walls. Pottery evidence suggest a 3rd century date for this feature.

A series of hearths were encountered to the north of the U shaped enclosure, two lay adjacent to each other aligned approximately northeast to southwest and measuring 2.8m and 3.8m long respectively. Both contained pottery of a 2nd century date, however, only one contained evidence of firing while the other appears to have been infilled before it was ever put to use. A third hearth was recorded some distance to the east but on a similar alignment measuring 4m in length. Evidence of charcoal and pottery indicate this hearth was in use in the mid 2nd century. A fourth hearth was encountered to the south measuring 3.5m in length again containing charcoal.

<2> Nevell, M & Fielding, A., 2005, Brine in Britannia: Recent archaeological work on the Roman salt industry in Cheshire (Monograph). SCH7341.