Monument record 2410 - Southworth Hall Farm Romano-British farmstead

<1> National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside, 1993, An Archaeological Evaluation at Southworth Hall Farm, Croft, Cheshire. (Client Report). SCH4153.

Sub-rectangular, ditched enclosure, with sharp angled corners, discovered during aerial reconnaissance by Rob Philpott in 1992. It was visible in a cereal crop and situated on the 30m contour on boulder clay. It measured 66m E-W by 60m N-S, with an internal area 0.34ha. There are traces of a faint oval enclosure possibly underlying the sub-rectangular feature. It was investigated in February 1993, by the Field Archaeology Section, National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside, prior to an application to extend a quarry. 10 trenches were excavated across the ditches of the enclosure and across its interior. The enclosure ditch ranged from 1.7-2.35m wide by 0.66-0.85m deep. Stake holes were found in edges of enclosure ditch, as well as several post holes and possible beam slots or gullies and a basket lined pit. A deposit of carbonised cereal grains were found including wheat, oats and probably weed seeds. Field walking produced 6 Roman sherds and 8 probable Roman sherds. Excavation produced 41 Roman sherds including Samian, Black Burnished Ware and local orange wares (Wilderspool), dating the enclosure to the 2nd century AD. Pottery was also found outside of the enclosure and possibly represents agricultural activity associated with it.

<2> Various, Aerial photographs, LM 92. 0090-94; LM 92. 1072-1076: LM 92. 2022-2024 Philpott R A 1992 (Aerial Photograph). SCH128.

LM 92. 0090-94; LM 92. 1072-1076: LM 92. 2022-2024 Philpott R A 1992

<3> Wardell Armstrong LLP, 2013, Southworth Quarry, Winwick, Warrington, Cheshire: Archaeological Excavation Report (Client Report). SCH7254.

Following on from the investigations of the enclosure in 1993, a subsequent programme of excavation was undertaken in 2013 prior to the total destruction of the site through quarrying. The excavation comprised a total area of 6.1 hectares targeted on the remains of the enclosure after a portion of it was removed by quarrying to the west after the 1993 evaluation had taken place.

The enclosure appears to have had two phases of use both dated by finds evidence to the mid 2nd century. During the second phase of use it appears that an entrance to the enclosure was created in its southern ditch by capping the silted up original ditch with clay. The entrance to the first phase of the enclosure was presumably in the section of ditch quarried away before the start of the final excavation.

A series of irregular pits were recorded with a north-west/south-east alignment, both cutting and being cut by the enclosure ditch. These pits also date to the mid 2nd century. Some of the features within the enclosure appear to be contemporary and may represent the remains of structures, possibly windbreaks. Other post holes and small pits were severely truncated and interpretation is therefore difficult.

An alignment of pits/postholes running north from the northern enclosure ditch is thought to represent a boundary/fence. Cultivated oat grains were found in four of these pits and indicate that this is a later medieval feature. This alignment also cut through the latest fills of the enclosure ditch also indicating a later date. A shallow linear ditch aligned with the postholes may be contemporary but this could not be confirmed.

<4> Chester Archaeological Society, Journal of the Chester Archaeological Society, Vol 84, 2010-2014, p.13-37 (Journal/Periodical). SCH1595.

Article discussing the Southworth enclosure as one of nearly 80 similar enclosures detected as cropmarks on air photographs within Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside and West Lancashire. Very little archaeological investigation has taken place regarding Iron Age and Roman rural settlement in the North-West with the bulk of evidence to date coming instead from military and urban sites. The development at Southworth Quarry, therefore, was an opportunity to conduct an open area excavation on a monument type which is poorly understood and rarely investigated.

The Southworth enclosure produced no archaeological finds or features dating to the Iron Age, despite enclosures elsewhere in Cheshire producing evidence of continuity between the Iron Age and Roman periods. The narrow date range of the artefacts recovered from Southworth, dating it to the mid 2nd century A.D, is of interest. There is a discussion that the morphology of this type of settlement is related to their date and function, with curvilinear enclosures potentially originating in the Iron Age, continuing into the Roman period, and associated with pastoralism. Rectangular examples seem to produce only Roman finds and are thought to form part of arable field systems. The dating of the Southworth enclosure to the mid 2nd century and its location on a ridge of free-draining sand and gravel seems to support this theory. Also the apparent failure of the settlement to outlive the 2nd century conforms to an emerging pattern in the region, with a decline in the number of rural settlements surviving through the to the first half of the third century.

Due to quarrying activity, only half of the large, sub-rectangular enclosure survived to be excavated in 2013. The entire east side remained but only part of the northern (45m) and southern (53m) sides; the western side had been totally removed. Five slots were excavated across the north ditch, six across the east, and three across the south. Trenches were positioned to investigate relationships with other features. The north-east and south-east corners were also investigated. The depth of the ditch was consistent between 0.55m and 0.7m along the north and east sides, but was deeper (0.78m) on the south side where it cut through clay. The width of the ditch was consistent between 2.0m and 2.2m along the north and east sides, but narrowed to as little as 1.38m on the deeper south side. The ditch on the north and east sides of the enclosure had clearly been re-cut, the re-cut was both narrower and shallower than the original ditch. The ditch of the south side was not re-cut but capped with a layer of yellow clay, possibly indicating an attempt to establish an entrance. The enclosure's original entrance was not identified and was presumably located in the western half which had been quarried away. The original ditch fills were generally a mix of silt, redeposited natural and occasional domestic rubbish, all which appear to have built up slowly. The fill of the re-cut ditch contained more domestic rubbish including fire-cracked stones, charcoal, ash and slag, perhaps indicating a more rapid deposition resulting from a more intensive use of the enclosure. The finds indicate a mid 2nd century date for both phases of use. No concentrations of finds were found in the fills and no in-situ evidence of burning or hearths within or outwith the enclosure.

The east enclosure ditch cut through earlier pits which appear to have been back-filled intentionally and one of which contained 22 sherds of a black-burnished ware cooking pot, also dated to the mid 2nd century, so probably used as a rubbish pit. The south side of the enclosure both cut a pit and was cut by a later pit. Thus there is activity on site before and after the main enclosure but given that all the dating evidence is of the mid 2nd century, all these features appear to have been in use within a short time period.

An aerial photograph of the enclosure taken before it was affected by quarrying seems to show faint internal circular features and it could be that curvilinear features and postholes recorded during the 2013 excavation represent the heavily truncated remains of these features and, furthermore, potentially could represent ring gullies of roundhouses. Other enigmatic linear features excavated in the interior have been interpreted as possible windbreaks, partly because of their east-west alignment and the fact that the prevailing wind on site comes from the north. None of the features had any direct stratigraphic relationship with the main enclosure, however, the majority of finds recovered were again of mid 2nd century date indicating a contemporary date.

To the north of the enclosure two linear features were recorded, a series of 20 postholes (Group 2) and 17 m further east, a linear feature parallel with the post holes. Two of the pits cut the re-cut enclosure ditch. Thirteen environmental samples were taken from these pits and subsequently produced abundant remains of charred cereal grains, predominantly cultivated oat remains. The recovery of oats (more common of medieval and later cultivation), together with the fact that the Group 2 pits truncate the re-cut enclosure ditch, indicate a possible early medieval or later date. The linear feature east of the pits is thought to represent a trackway or boundary contemporary with the pit alignment.

A total of 254 artefacts were recovered from 24 contexts during the excavation. They comprise pottery sherds, fragments of ceramic building material, two sandstone blocks, four glass fragments, four metal objects, fragments of slag and calcined bone fragments. The pottery assemblage dates the enclosure to the mid 2nd century. However, surprisingly, there was very little palaeoenvironmental evidence that could definitely be dated to the Roman period. Roman cultivation is often dominated by grains of barley or wheat, but only 2 barley grains and one wheat grain were recovered.

Of interest and importance for the future management of similar sites across the region is the impact that modern farming practices, particularly ploughing, has had on the enclosure at Southworth. The internal features in particular were hard to interpret and it seems likely that these and the enclosure ditch itself had been heavily truncated.