Monument record MDR3213 - Roman Farmstead (Carsington Site B), junction of Scow Brook and Oldfield Brook, Carsington

SK 24925166. Roman building, excavated 1979-81, built of coursed masonry and sandstone slates. It contained hearths that may have been used for lead production and a corn drier in another room. There were two earlier levels, each associated with hearths, sealed beneath the floors. (1) The site was first recognised in 1975 as a result of ploughing which brought Roman tiles and building debris to the surface. In September 1979 a resistivity survey was conducted and in 1980 a full campaign of excavation began. Trenches revealed a rectangular building 9.2m wide and 23.8m long, divided into three parts by cross-walls. There was evidence of underfloor heating in the northern part of the building. The central part appears to have been undivided and contained two hearths. The southern part of the building had been divided into at least three rooms, separated by timber-framed walls. Several features indicated the presence of an earlier building, including areas of burning or hearths and fragments of tiles incorporated into the core of the west wall. Relatively few securely stratified finds were made, with occupation appearing to range from the mid 2nd century to the 4th century. The nature of the finds suggest the building was essentially a domestic one, probably a farmstead. (2) Further excavation revealed two earlier buildings, the whole site dating from the second to fourth centuries. The main house is thought to be fourth century. (3) Trial trenching and further excavation resumed in 1983. The intention of the excavations was to look for evidence of further structures. Two compacted stone platforms were uncovered, presumably for small stone or timber outbuildings. In addition, the footings of a small wing projecting from the main building were uncovered. As previously, the dating of finds indicates overall occupation from the second half of the 2nd to the late-4th century AD. However, there are some indications that the outbuildings belong to an earlier period than the main building, which is provisionally dated to the late-3rd and 4th centuries. The newly excavated wing appears to be a later addition and may have served as a bath-suite. (4) Two residual rod-type microliths in brown translucent flint were found during the excavation of the southern out-building. (5) Geophysical survey in 1989, trial trenches in 1990 and further excavations in 1991 by Trent and Peak Archaeological trust on behalf of Severn Trent Water identified a ditched enclosure surrounding the previously investigated buildings. The ditch, together with streams, defines an area of 1.5 ha with the buildings at the centre. Initial work identified that the ditch contained sherds of Romano-British pottery dating to the 3rd and 4th centuries, and that blocks of dressed sandstone (from the buildings?) lay in the uppermost fills. Recutting of the V shaped ditch may be associated with non-Roman (Iron Age?) pottery that was itself residual. However, the presence of Anglo-Saxon pottery high in the ditch fill might also provide a date for these non-Roman sherds. To complicate this picture, some suggestions that part of the ditch system could be pre-Roman have been made, and the presence of a small amount of Neolithic/ Bronze Age flintwork is cautionary in this respect. Within the area enclosed by the ditch , set 5m from the western ditch, were a series of 3 square/ rectangular post structures. This area, which was stripped late in th investigations, also produced traces of another ditch extending outside of the enclosure area, but this was not investigated through lack of time. An organic rich layer adjacent to Scow Brook contained charred plant remains, a coin of Tetricus, pottery of the 3rd and 4th centuries, "odd fragments of leather", bone and teeth. Bulk samples were taken for analysis. (6) The Roman administration from a site known as 'Lutudarum' of lead production within the Peak Dsitrict is identified by inscriptions on lead pigs which correspond with an 18th century gazetteer known as the Ravenna Cosmography, which lists Lutudarum alongside places in Cheshire and Derbyshire. However there has been debate as to whether Lutudarum was a specific place of the name given to the orefield as a whole. At Site B, a large stone-footed rectangular house which was probably built in the 4th century AD with a smaller wing added to the side which may have been a bath suite. There were at least two small 'outbuildings' placed on cobbled surfaces, possibly earlier in date, associated with a house that had been demolished as indicated by mosaic tesserae and window glass sealed under the later house. (7) For Roman lead working in Carsington, see: Roman Settlement (Carsington Site A), (SMR3209) Roman Farmstead (Carsington Site B), (SMR3222) Roman Settlement in Carsington, (SMR3244) Lead pigs in pit, (SMR32432) Roman Road, Buxton to Derby ('The Street'), (SMR99030) Roman Pottery, (SMR3219) Roman lead pig, (SMR3251) Roman inscribed weighted lead pig, (SMR3252)