WILTSHIRE
(1) Devizes, Lay Wood (SU 0280 6270): excavation was undertaken on land adjacent to a known Roman villa,Footnote 365 with a large area being opened up after the initial exposures revealed far more archaeology than expected. Most activity dates from the middle of the first century a.d. to the second half of the second century. This relatively short time span is evidenced by the pottery, which is dominated by Savernake wares.
Mid–late first-century activity was spread across most of the main excavated area and comprised narrow linear features representing field boundaries and possibly small enclosures. Possible structural evidence was indicated by a circular drip-gully located in the southern part of the site, while evidence of cremation burial was found close to the western boundary of the trench. In the late first to second century, the site was reorganised, with earlier features cut by a new series of ditches on different alignments, particularly in the central part of the site. A notable feature of this phase is that the ditches tended to be wider and deeper, and were more often re-cut compared to earlier features.Footnote 366
(2) Ludgershall, Empress Way (SU 2694 5051): an evaluation recorded a Romano-British ditch in the eastern part of the site. The recovery of a small quantity of later Roman pottery from the ditch fill seems to indicate that it was in use until at least the third to fourth centuries.Footnote 367
(3) Mere: 6 silver denarii, including 1 denarius of Hadrian (dated a.d. 119–22), indicating deposition probably c. a.d. 122.Footnote 368
(4) Pewsey I: 12 AR clipped siliquae deposited c. a.d. 402 and forming part of a previously discovered hoard.Footnote 369 Total now stands at 42 siliquae.Footnote 370
(5) Pewsey II: 2 base metal radiates and 2,381 base metal nummi. Radiates: 1 of Claudius II (a.d. 268–70) and 1 of Tetricus I (a.d. 271–4). The latest nummi (1,141 in total) are those of a.d. 341–8. The hoard was found in situ in its pottery vessel. Excavation of the pot contents was carried out in the laboratory; it was shown to have had a lead sheet and fur hide covering. Date of deposition c. a.d. 348.Footnote 371
(6) Semington, land at Pound Lane (ST 8950 6070): a trial-trench evaluation found that a rectilinear complex of small ditched enclosures, known from a preceding geophysical survey, was dated to the Romano-British period. The remains reflect the periphery of a Romano-British settlement which appears to continue further to the north-east and east, with the focus towards the medieval/modern village.Footnote 372
(7) Trowbridge, land south of Green Lane (ST 87850 57800): an evaluation confirmed the results of a previous geophysical survey and identified at least two phases of a sub-rectangular enclosure as well as pits and post-holes. Finds dating to the second to third centuries were retrieved. Several small pits containing burnt material located beyond the enclosure may relate to an area of industrial activity.Footnote 373
DORSET
(1) Blandford St Mary: hoard of 30 base metal nummi to a.d. 350–3.Footnote 374
(2) Holt: hoard of 619 base metal radiates are addenda to a hoard dated c. a.d. 286. The total for this hoard now stands at 914 radiates. The latest coin was in the original find: Diocletian (a.d. 284–305), 1st series of Lyon, a.d. 284–6.Footnote 375
(3) Marnhull, land off Sackmore Lane (ST 7762 1924): a trial-trench evaluation identified ditches, some of which correlated with anomalies identified in an earlier geophysical survey, suggesting a Romano-British ditched enclosure. Sherds of South-East Dorset black burnished ware and those from an unsourced, wheel-made sandy greyware were recovered. Some middle Iron Age pottery was also found unstratified in the same locality.Footnote 376
(4) Pamphill: 2 silver miliarenses and 2 silver siliquae, deposited c. a.d. 383.Footnote 377
(5) Sherborne: hoard of 35 radiates to Aurelian a.d. 270–5 (1st series Rome). Date of deposition c. a.d. 271.Footnote 378
(6) Weymouth, land at East Chickerell (SY 6518 8051): a trench evaluation revealed several Romano-British ditches, probable components of enclosures or fields. The quantity and range of the recovered finds assemblage suggest contemporary settlement nearby, although no structural features were recorded.Footnote 379
(7) Woodsford, Woodsford Quarry (SY 7537 8998): geophysical (magnetometer) survey of 8.7 ha revealed a number of reasonably sized enclosures and many isolated linear features which may represent a continuation of the extensive complex of late Iron Age, Roman and medieval deposits previously recorded to the south.Footnote 380 Evaluation trenching broadly confirmed the results of the geophysical survey but also revealed additional (prehistoric) deposits elsewhere. The enclosures seem to represent two phases of use, one in the earlier Bronze Age and the second in the late Iron Age–early Roman period. Subsequent excavation has uncovered a single (isolated) inhumation in a stone sarcophagus.Footnote 381
HAMPSHIRE
(1) Basingstoke, Park Prewett (SU 6162 5423): excavation took place of two areas (A and B), the locations of which were determined by the results of a previous evaluation. Two parallel linear ditches crossed the entirety of the western trench in Area A. The small number of finds associated with these ditches include those belonging to the later Neolithic or early Bronze Age, late Bronze Age or early Iron Age and Roman periods. While dating is not secure, the presence of similar nearby Roman parallel ditches suggests that the ditches in Area A belong to this period. The only other prehistoric feature in Area A is a pit containing 20 sherds from a single vessel of probable middle to later Bronze Age date. A ditch in Area B, oriented north-west/south-east and first seen in evaluation, is of probable middle Iron Age date but was not picked up in any of the excavation trenches. A further pair of ditches run broadly parallel to those described in Area A, but these are probably post-medieval in date.Footnote 382
(2) Basingstoke and Deane, Old Camps, on the east side of Newbury Road, Headley (SU 51870 62195): an archaeological watching-brief, carried out in advance of a housing development, revealed multi-period activity. Evidence for possible Roman settlement includes four post-holes and a pit. A single fragment of abraded Roman pottery was recovered from one of the post-holes.Footnote 383
(3) Boldre: hoard of 1,608 base metal radiates ending with a coin of Tacitus (a.d. 275–6). Date of deposition c. a.d. 276. Found with the coins were 15 sherds of a globular vessel, probably a flagon, composed of a pink fabric with small red inclusions and with a brownish-red slipped surface. Impressions of coins were visible on the inner face of the sherds.Footnote 384
(4) Froxfield I: 2 silver denarii: Domitian (a.d. 81–96) and Nerva (a.d. 96–8), coin of a.d. 96.Footnote 385
(5) Froxfield II: hoard of 31 nummi, dated a.d. 318–24. Date of deposition c. a.d. 324.Footnote 386
(6) Itchen Abbas, land to the rear of Plough Steep, Main Road (SU 5363 3297): a watching-brief within a development area situated close to a Romano-British/early Saxon cemetery and a possible pond barrow uncovered two possible Romano-British inhumation burials.Footnote 387 Further excavations also revealed additional evidence of the first- to second-century aqueduct uncovered during an excavation at Barton Farm.Footnote 388 The remains follow the aqueduct's course as previously proposed.Footnote 389
(7) Meonstoke, Shavards Farm (SU 6162 2105): excavation focused on a hexagonal outline found in geophysical prospection the previous year.Footnote 390 The outline was confirmed to be a Roman stone-built structure of third- to fourth-century date with a dimension of c. 7.7 m across its internal angles and with a probable southern entrance. It was associated with placed deposits of animal bone, pottery and selected natural stones, positioned around the building. Some of these dated to the first century a.d. and, together with an unstratified coin of Epaticcus (?c. a.d. 35), suggest earlier activity at the site of a probable votive nature. Hexagonal buildings are rare in Roman Britain and there is a cultic association for nearly all of them. At Meonstoke, the hexagonal building is closely associated with the aisled building and collapsed façade, excavated in the 1980s and 1990s, only c. 25 m to the east.Footnote 391 Previously considered to be a villa site, the new excavations have led to further consideration of this interpretation and a temple or sanctuary site is a possible alternative.Footnote 392
(8) Pamber, Little London (SU 6226 5971): caesium magnetometer and ground-penetrating radar (GPR) surveys were conducted as part of the University of Reading Silchester Environs Project over a suspected Roman tile-production site, indicated by earlier finds of Roman tile waster material.Footnote 393 Results from both techniques were partially affected by known nineteenth-century brick-clay workings, although beyond this disturbance the vehicle-towed caesium magnetometer survey (5 ha) identified linear anomalies and a cluster of high-magnitude discrete thermoremanent responses characteristic of the remains of a group of kiln-type structures. GPR survey (3.1 ha) provided complementary detail of the anomalies mapped by the magnetometer survey and of the historical landuse of the area.Footnote 394
(9) Silchester (Calleva Atrebatum): (a) Insula III (SU 64 62): excavation continued for a fourth and final season. An area of 15 m by 15 m was opened in the north-west corner of Insula III to re-excavate the trenches of the Society of Antiquaries' excavation of 1891 and evaluate their findings; at least one earlier phase of methodical trenching, perhaps attributable to the Revd J. Joyce, was also identified. The sides of these trenches revealed early Roman dumps of clay and gravel, similar in character to those found in the south-east corner of the insula in 2013–14,Footnote 395 and also sealing the late Iron Age and earliest Roman occupation, but here with no trace of any early Roman structure. Instead they cut through the gravel-filled foundation trenches of a later Roman rectangular building, 15 m by 7 m, its narrow end fronting on to the east–west-aligned street. Adjacent post-holes along the edge of the street indicated the possibility of a second building occupying the space between it and the west side of the insula. Two further trenches, each 5 m by 5 m, were dug, one immediately to the north, the other immediately to the west of the structure revealed by excavation in the south-east corner of the insula in 2013–14. Neither indicated any further extension of the ground plan of the late first-century building beyond what had been previously established. The overall configuration now suggests an unfinished building. The western trench succeeded in detaching a cottage excavated in 1891 from that of the larger, south-eastern complex to which it is linked on the 1891 plan and confirming a late Roman date for it. It is located in the middle of the south side of the insula, its narrow end fronting on to the street.Footnote 396
(b) Wood Farm Dyke (SU 6303 6094): a vehicle-towed caesium magnetometer survey was conducted as part of the University of Reading Silchester Environs Project. The site is close to a well-preserved section of linear earthwork, part of an extensive dyke system lying to the south and west of Calleva and thought to be associated with the town's Iron Age precursor. The aim of the survey was to identify potential occupation activity or other significant anomalies associated with the linear earthwork in advance of intrusive investigations to recover dating evidence, and investigate the construction and use of these monuments. Results of the magnetic survey (4.3 ha) appear to show largely geomorphological responses indicative of river channel sediments, running 100 m to the west of and approximately parallel to the earthwork which may, perhaps, have influenced its positioning. A sparse scatter of pit-type anomalies, located west of the former channel, may be of archaeological significance, but do not necessarily suggest a focus of Iron Age or Roman settlement activity.Footnote 397
(10) Southampton, former Voodoo Lounge, Vincents Walk (SU 4207 1181): an excavation uncovered a ditch and a deposit, both dating to the second to fourth century.Footnote 398
(11) Thruxton: 7 silver miliarenses and 18 siliquae to add to those found in 2014.Footnote 399 The total now stands at 15 miliarenses and 63 siliquae to a.d. 402.Footnote 400
(12) Winchester: (a) Chesil Street Car Park, Barfield Close (SU 4870 2905): archaeological investigations uncovered a cluster of four Romano-British pits, at least one of which was a clamp-type lime kiln. Extensive areas of infilled quarrying are mostly medieval in date, though some may have been associated with lime production during the Romano-British period.Footnote 401
(b) Sunley House, St George's Street (SU 4803 2957): a single evaluation trench uncovered a large pit cut into natural gravels containing four sherds of Roman pottery, including a rim sherd from a dish in New Forest colour-coated ware of third- or fourth-century date.Footnote 402
(c) Victoria House, Victoria Road (SU 4795 2997): a watching-brief continued from 2015 within Winchester's northern Roman cemetery. Work revealed three further late fourth-century supine inhumations. Two were juvenile burials; they had been heavily truncated below the pelvis.Footnote 403
ISLE OF WIGHT
(1) Calbourne: hoard of 1 denarius and 145 radiates. Denarius: Severus Alexander (a.d. 222–35). Roman pottery fragments were found with the coins. The majority of the radiates (95) were those of Postumus (a.d. 260–9). Date of deposition c. a.d. 268.Footnote 404
(2) Freshwater: hoard of 449 nummi, plus 23 pot sherds. The pottery fragments include base and body sherds (no rim sherds) from a buff-coloured Roman coarseware pot. Date of deposition c. a.d. 328.Footnote 405
(3) Gatcombe: 2 fused base silver radiates: Philip II Augustus (a.d. 247–9) and Postumus (a.d. 260–9). Date of deposition c. a.d. 269.Footnote 406
