Details

The monument includes a small rectangular enclosure representing a Romano-
British farmstead situated c.500m south of the Lime Kiln Kennels and 200m
north west of Bury Hill. It lies on a gently sloping hill c.1.3km north east
of Knollbury Camp Iron Age hillfort. The site is no longer visible at ground
level but is known from aerial photographs to have a rectangular ditched
enclosure measuring c.100m from east to west and 70m from north to south,
aligned roughly east to west. The ditch, which has become infilled over time,
survives buried below the modern ground level and measures c.2m wide. There is
a single entrance on the east side and this is similar in layout to the small
`Ditchley type' villas, named after the site where they were first recognised.
The interior is slightly smaller than that at Ditchley and is best described
as a farm with its associated agricultural economy, rather than as a villa in
the sense of a large country house. Within the enclosure would have been a
hedge or wall surrounding a main house, as well as ancillary buildings.
Surface finds of pottery from the area of the enclosure are Romano-British in
date and many of these are stored in the Ashmolean museum.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features,
considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

Romano-British farmsteads are small agricultural units comprising groups of up
to four circular or rectangular houses along with associated structures which
may include wells, storage pits, corn-drying ovens and granary stores. These
were sometimes constructed within a yard surrounded by a rectangular or
curvilinear enclosure, and associated field systems, trackways and cemeteries
may be located nearby. Most Romano-British farmsteads in south east England
have been discovered by the analysis of aerial photographs. They usually
survive in the form of buried features visible as crop and soil marks and
occasionally as low earthworks. Often situated on marginal agricultural land
and found throughout the British Isles, they date to the period of Roman
occupation (c.AD 43-450). Romano-British farmsteads are generally regarded as
low status settlements, with the members of one family or small kinship group
pursuing a mixed farming economy. Excavation at these sites has shown a marked
continuity with later prehistoric settlements. There is little evidence of
personal wealth and a limited uptake of the Romanised way of life. Romano-
British farmsteads occur throughout southern England, but cluster on the chalk
downland of Wessex, Sussex and Kent. As the most representative form of rural
settlement in the region during the Roman period, all Romano-British
farmsteads which have been positively identified and which have significant
surviving remains will merit protection.

This Romano-British farmstead is known from aerial photographs to survive in
buried form over the whole of its original area, and surface finds have
confirmed that it will contain archaeological and environmental evidence
relating to its construction, economy and the landscape in which it was built.
It lies in an area known for its Iron Age occupation and will therefore be
significant in developing an understanding of cultural change in the area in
the late prehistoric to early Romano-British period.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
PRN 1555, C.A.O., Lowland Barn Rectangular enclosure, (1993)

Source: Historic England