Carlisle City Council redeveloped the Lanes from the mid-1970s, a densely built-up area in the north-east corner of the city's historic core, crossed by 19 narrow 'vennels'. These, together with most of the adjacent buildings, were swept away by the construction of the Lanes shopping centre. Previous archaeological work had confirmed complex Roman and medieval deposits on the site, most of which would be destroyed by the development, and many of the buildings were of historical and architectural interest. A programme of archaeological and historical investigation, including building recording, was therefore undertaken, principally funded by Carlisle City Council, the Department of the Environment (now Historic England), and the Manpower Services Commission, completed between 1978 and 1982. Historic England also funded the post-excavation analysis and this publication. The Lanes remains one of the largest and most significant archaeological projects ever undertaken in northern England. The project was split into the northern and southern Lanes, the results of the latter being published in 2000, though it only included a summary of the standing-building survey. This volume, the companion to the 2019 publication of the Roman remains at the northern site, presents the evidence for post-Roman activity. The site appears to have been abandoned by the fifth century, layers of 'dark earth' accumulating over the latest Roman levels. Several decades after Carlisle was re-established by William II, narrow burgage plots were created, extending from Scotch Street to the recently constructed city wall. These were intensively occupied from then on and yielded a wealth of evidence for the everyday lives of the inhabitants. Around the mid-thirteenth century, the lanes themselves were created between these plots, probably to improve access, and this distinctive pattern of land-use persisted until the modern redevelopment.

A research and community-training excavation took place over two summer seasons in 2013-14 within the Roman extramural settlement at Maryport, including the backplot. The primary aim of the project, which attracted around 125 volunteers, was to enhance understanding of the settlement through the excavation of a single building plot, the first time this had been undertaken at Maryport in modern times. Using geophysical survey evidence, a plot located 150 m north-east of the fort, adjacent to the main Roman road, was selected for investigation. The earliest feature was a small ditch, possibly part of a late pre-Roman or early Roman field system, but there was little evidence for activity before the late Hadrianic period (c AD 130+), when a timber 'strip building' was constructed on the street frontage. This went out of use in the mid-second century, but was immediately replaced by a similar structure. Following the demolition of this building around the end of the century, the plot was seemingly abandoned for a time, after which a stone-footed strip building was erected, probably c AD 220-30. Although direct evidence was sparse, all three buildings may have been multifunctional, possibly combining residential and commercial functions. To the rear was a palimpsest of features, including plot-boundary ditches and a group of wells and/or water cisterns. The Roman properties on either side of this also contained stone-footed strip buildings during the third century, one separated by a minor road, extending north-west from the main road. The stone-footed building, and probably also those in the adjacent plots, had been demolished by c AD 270. Subsequent activity was extremely limited, but included the cutting, in the late third/early fourth century, of a ditch along the north-eastern boundary of the targeted plot. Thereafter, the site seems to have been abandoned completely, and no evidence of post-Roman activity was identified

Love's Farm, St Neots, lies on the claylands near the western boundary of Cambridgeshire. Fieldwork conducted over 60ha by the county field unit, CAM ARC (now Oxford Archaeology East), followed geophysical survey, fieldwalking and evaluation. This extensive project permitted a detailed archaeological examination of a later prehistoric and Roman agricultural landscape on a previously unprecedented scale within the county. Evidence was revealed for the exploitation of the area in early prehistory, with field systems present from the middle Iron Age, if not before. By the late Iron Age, several farmsteads were set within what may have been three 'landholdings', bounded to the south by a major routeway previously identified as a possible Roman road. Dominant features were a large square enclosure and a subsequent sub-circular monument, positioned on a ridge overlooking the settlements. Given its location close to major routes, the site was ideally situated to provide evidence for the impact of the Roman conquest and the influence of Romanisation on the countryside. Although little trace of the disruption of everyday life was noted, metalwork with military associations was found. Many of the finds show a distinct bias towards votive offerings, providing new insights into local religious observance. At around the time of the conquest, the minor farmsteads fell from use and activities eventually coalesced into two settlements: one which developed from an Iron Age farm and the other effectively a 'new' foundation that burgeoned in the 4th century. The older of the two settlements was abandoned in the late 4th century, while the other apparently remained in use into the early Anglo-Saxon period. The site eventually became medieval fields, although some of the ancient hedgerow boundaries survived. This publication seeks to illustrate the site's character and to examine its social, economic and morphological development in its wider context. The archaeological remains unearthed at the site link to a wide range of issues that have the potential to enhance current understanding of social organisation and the evolution of the countryside. The results shed significant new light on the past of this previously little-known part of the Cambridgeshire landscape that was once thought to be cold, wet and uninviting.

From 1997 to 2001, works associated with Carlisle City Council's Gateway City (Millennium) Project on castle Way and Castle Gardens provided an important opportunity to conduct a programme of archaeological excavations on the site of the Roman fort at Carlisle, and to examine the development of part of the medieval castle, which occupies most of the fort site. Five main areas were investigated prior to the construction of the Castle Way (Irish Gate) footbridge and the Millennium Gallery and underpass, in what was the largest archaeological excavation undertaken in Carlisle since the early 1800s. The results of the work will greatly enhance understanding of the development of the fort during the Roman period, and of Carlisle's role in the origins and development of the Tyne-Solway frontier system. Important evidence for occupation within the medieval castle's outer ward was also recovered, and the large ditch separating the castle from the city was investigated. Waterlogging of the lower levels resulted in exceptional preservation of organic materials, which rarely survive on archaeological sites in Britain. These included the remains of numerous wooden buildings and other structures within two superimposed timber forts of the late first- to mid-second century AD, a multiplicity of wooden and leather artefacts of Roman and medieval date, and a wealth of environmental information. This monograph presents the detailed stratigraphic narrative, describing site development from the pre-Roman to post-medieval periods. The site is placed in its wider context, and a discussion is presented of the importance of the data for advancing understanding of the history and development of Carlisle, and of the wider region. A second volume discusses the artefactual and ecofactual data, and provides an overview of the significance of the material. Much of the detailed project data have been compiled into a thrid, digital, volume; this takes the form of a DVD accompanying the second book.

The A66 has been a routeway of significance for at least 2000 years, linking the east and west of the country by the Stainmore Pass. Archaeological excavation ahead of the upgrading of the A66 to dual carriageway, between Greta Bridge and Scotch Corner, provided an important opportunity to investigate the development of the landscape. The archaeological remains discovered range in date from early prehistory to the nineteenth century, and particularly from the Iron Age and early Roman period (c 800 BC - AD 100). One of the most significant results was the important new dating evidence for a section of the Scots Dyke, a substantial linear earthwork between the Rivers Tees and Swale. It has been dated to the early-middle Iron Age, which places it within the wider Iron Age and Roman landscape revealed by the road improvement scheme. This may indicate that it was related in some way to the Iron Age tribal centre at nearby Stanwick. The volume arises from a multi-disciplinary approach to the archaeology, with the emphasis placed on interpreting the sites within their wider landscape context. It involved a multiplicity of authors, ranging from staff at Oxford Archaeology North, to external specialists, including staff at Lancaster University and University College, London.