Roman features at Abbey Works, Bleachfield Street, Alcester

1 The excavation of trial trenches at Abbey Works, Bleachfield Street, Alcester recorded a number of features associated with Roman occupation of the site including a hearth with metalworking slag, 1st – 4th century pottery, amphora, bone and metal pins and a number of features such as postholes, pits and gullies. There is also mention in the report of a road aligned N-S.
2 During a subsequent excavation in 2005, four phases of human activity in the Roman era were identified. Phase 1 dated to the late 1st/early 2nd century AD. Features of this included beam slots, ditches and postholes with the possibility that these formed the south west corner of a Roman military fort. Phase 2 showed a clay deposit covering the Phase 1 features, indicating the abandonment of the fort although a well was re-cut and housed in a structure during this period. Phase 3 included stone walls and a stone flag-lined shallow pit (possibly a tank or water cistern), as well as clay post pads forming a rectangular building with an apsidal end. Phase 4 was the apparent end of Roman occupation – a dark soil layer with mid 4th century pottery sealed the site. However some Roman finds appeared to post-date this layer, as did a concentration of inhumation burials and two cremation urns.