Summary

A large and complex Roman villa occupied in the third and fourth centuries AD, set in an extensive area of associated yards and enclosures including further buildings and features, all surviving as a series of buried features and deposits.

Source: Historic England

Details

PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS: Roman villa with associated enclosures surviving as a series of buried features and deposits.

DESCRIPTION: the villa lies within gently undulating land about 1.5km south west of Dere Street, the main Roman road northwards which is now largely followed by the modern A1 to Scotch Corner. The villa occupies an artificially built-up terrace on a slight westwards facing spur overlooking the Scurf Beck. The main building features a broad north-south corridor linking wings at either end which project westwards. The northern wing had a western extension in the form of a single room which has been fully excavated and found to have been provided with under-floor heating. The upper deposits of the corridor and adjacent rooms were uncovered by excavation of the topsoil, but left in situ. These areas were shown to include intact floor surfaces, with wall lines generally marked by neatly cut robber trenches.

Both the north and south wings also extend eastwards beyond the excavated area as building ranges to north and south of a courtyard. Geophysical survey data suggests that the southern range extends the furthest, at least 75m eastwards, appearing to be made up of a series of stone-founded buildings. Towards the eastern end, a large spread of fired material suggests the presence of a bath house. Extending to the east of the buildings, geophysical survey has identified a complex of rectilinear ditched enclosures and other features interpreted as being directly associated with the villa. These are interpreted as contemporary enclosures and timber structures, but may include farmstead remains pre-dating the construction of the stone buildings. The geophysical survey did not identify the eastern limits of this complex but did identify the north western corner of a further set of rectilinear features centred some 300m to the north east of the stone buildings which suggests that the complex extends at least 300m east of the main villa building.

EXTENT OF SCHEDULING: this has been defined using information from the 2013 geophysical survey report to include the full extent of the villa complex except where truncated to the west by the line of the A684 Leeming Bar, Aiskew, Bedale bypass. The area also includes the full extent of the complex of enclosures and other features identified by the geophysical survey and considered to be associated with the villa. The survey is thought to have identified the northern and southern limits of this complex, but not the eastern limits. Consequently the south eastern corner of the monument extends beyond the area surveyed to simplify the extent of the scheduling, and to include land which is considered to retain further buried remains associated with the villa. However, because the eastern limits of the site have not been identified, it is possible that the wider villa complex extends beyond the area of the scheduling on this eastern side. The boundaries of the monument include an additional margin for its support and protection, this margin being a minimum of 2m, but generally wider so that the boundaries of the scheduling can be simplified into straight lines.

EXCLUSIONS: fence lines within the area of the monument are excluded from the scheduling, however the ground beneath these features is included.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

Aiskew Roman villa is scheduled for the following principal reasons:
* Period and rarity: as a Roman villa which is exceptionally large, rich and complex in a northern context;
* Diversity: the monument includes a main building displaying a particularly wide range of features, set in large complex including further buildings and in turn surrounded by an extensive area of enclosures with a wide range of further features considered to relate to the villa's exploitation of its wider estate;
* Survival: very good preservation of deeply stratified deposits and finds including bone and ironwork;
* Potential: overall the monument has considerable archaeological potential to inform us about a significant Roman villa in third and fourth century Yorkshire.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
"A684 Bedale, Aiskew and Leeming Bar Bypass: re-processing and interpretation of geophysical survey data" July 2013 Archaeological Services University of Durham
Information provided by Prospect Archaeology from their excavations November 2014-February 2015.

Source: Historic England