Roman settlement

1 1985: a hole was dug in the back garden of a house on Bleachfield Street to see what could be found. Pottery from this hole was examined and was of C1-C2 date. In 1986 another hole was dug. This ‘excavation’ revealed traces of stone walled buildings. Finds included Roman and later (PRN 5599) pottery, bones and coins.
2 Section drawing held in archive.
3 The stone walls were probably Roman in date.
4 An archaeological observation carried out at Bleachfield Street in May 1995 did not uncover any Roman features and only a single fragment of Roman tile was recovered.
5 A watching brief during the construction of a rear extension to 18 Bleachfield Street recovered Roman pottery including a large amphora fragment and two sherds of rusticated grey ware (probably dating to the early 2nd century). A copper alloy fragment may have been a section of Roman scale armour (or a medieval strap end). Unfortunately the excavation and concrete filling of the foundation trenches was not observed, however, the finds recovered indicated that they must have dug through one or more archaeological layers or features of Roman date.