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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.
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.
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R224
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