Summary

Roman pottery thought to have been operated by the potter Sarrius from the AD 140s, producing an unusually wide range of pottery types and forms mainly for the Roman army, the site surviving as extensive buried deposits.

Source: Historic England

Details

PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS: buried remains of Roman pottery kilns together with other related structures and deposits of pottery production waste products, along with remains of Roman settlement activity.

DESCRIPTION: Roman remains survive as buried deposits which are not expressed as upstanding earthworks, however occasional pottery sherds can be identified in areas of ground disturbance.

The northern two thirds of the scheduled monument is gently-sloping S-facing land which is raised up from the level of the river floodplain. The southernmost corner is part of the river floodplain with land rising steeply up as a scarp to the N and more gently to the NW. It is possible that the steep scarp represents the eroded remains of a Roman quarry face for clay extraction.

The excavations showed that the kilns are typically approximately 1m in diameter internally, being clay lined pits each linked to a larger stoke hole via short, horizontal flues. Kilns typically retain deposits of charcoal, broken fragments of pottery and fired fragments from the temporary kiln covers formed from turf, along with fired clay pedestals and bars upon which the unfired pots would have been stacked within the kiln. Of the approximately 20 kilns identified in the archaeological investigations in 1956-65, only 6 were excavated, the remainder are considered to remain in situ. The 2015 geophysical survey also suggests the in situ survival of further kilns in the northern part of the monument. Archaeological investigations have not establish the limits of the site so it is possible that further kilns survive in situ beyond the boundaries of the monument. Excavation also uncovered pebble surfaces, the possible remains of a clamp (bonfire sealed with turfs) used for firing black burnished ware, along with other structures represented by stake holes. Further unexcavated examples of similar features are expected to survive within (and perhaps beyond) the area of the monument.

Products of the pottery uncovered in the excavations were especially wide ranging including a wide variety of grey wares (mainly cooking pots), along with finer black burnished wares and fine, decorated Parisian tablewares. Some pottery is wheel-thrown, some is fully hand-made. Further deposits of such pottery are considered to survive as buried deposits within the area of the scheduling. Other finds from the site included remains of at least one human inhumation along with evidence of settlement activity, from before and after the operation of the pottery. Finds of obviously imported pottery including Samian suggest that the site developed into a relatively high status domestic settlement at the end of the C2; further similar unexcavated material is considered to survive within the scheduled monument. The excavations also uncovered quantities of organic material including leather and timber items: unexcavated, waterlogged areas are considered to retain further such organic Roman period remains. The excavations also identified timber piles in the bed of the river identified as marking the river crossing of the Lincoln to Doncaster Roman road. It is thought that these were left in situ by the excavation and will survive as buried remains. The 2015 geophysical survey also identified features interpreted as representing Roman period enclosures and associated remains across the northern two thirds of the monument.

EXTENT OF SCHEDULING: the northern boundary follows a fence line immediately south of a track way marked by the Ordnance Survey. Most of the western boundary is defined by the limits of an area of housing and their gardens, before cutting across to the northern bank of the Mother Drain which forms most of the southern boundary. The eastern boundary follows a straight line between the Mother Drain and the track way which marks the northern boundary.

EXCLUSIONS: fence and gate posts; electricity power lines, their pylons and poles; water and feeding troughs are all excluded from the scheduling however the ground beneath all of these features is included in the designation.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

Rossington Bridge Roman potteries is scheduled for the following principal reasons:
* Period, Rarity: as a Roman pottery associated with the potter Sarrius (active AD 135-170) who also produced pottery from the Mancetter-Hartshill area of Warwickshire and near Bearsdon in the western sector of the Antonine Wall in Scotland;
* Survival, Potential: the survival of extensive archaeological remains across the monument, not just kiln sites, but spreads of pottery waste representing an unusually wide range of pottery types, ditched enclosures and other features and deposits.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
P.C.Buckland, K.F.Hartley & V.Rigby, Roman Pottery Kilns at Rossington Bridge, Excavations 1956-1961, (2001)
Patrick, Ottaway, Roman Yorkshire, (2013), 199-201
Other
"Finningley and Rossington Regeneration Route Scheme FARRRS Phase 2, Doncaster, Yorkshire: Detailed Topographic, Gradiometer and Resistivity Survey Report" Wessex Archaeology report for Doncaster MBC (2015)
"Reassessment of a magnetometer survey over scheduled monument NHLE1004787 at Rossington, Doncaster" Historic England (2016)

Source: Historic England