Roman rural settlement north of Campden Road, Shipston-on-Stour

12 A geophysical survey and an archaeological evaluation were carried out on land to the north of Campden Road, Shipston-on-Stour. This encountered a series of features and evidence to suggest a Roman agricultural settlement. A number of Roman ditches, gullies and pits were discovered with a variety of finds. Two distinct phases of activity were apparent, one dating to the 1st to 2nd centuries AD, the other to the 2nd to 4th centuries AD. The later phase included some evidence for small-scale industry in the form of ironworking shown by the presence of ironworking slag. The presence of multiple intercutting ditches and pits indicates the likelihood of multiple settlement activity. Finds included pottery but also ceramic building material, fired clay, a spindle whorl, briquetage, human skeletal material and animal bone. The finds are typical of a low-status rural agricultural settlement. The remains of the settlement had been heavily truncated by later deep ploughing.
3 Report on the geophysical survey carried out on the site which identified a series of enclosures, and a number of cut features, attributed to an agricultural settlement of Roman date.