Roman Villa at Weekley in Northamptonshire (SP 885818) was first referred to by eighteenth-century antiquaries, who stated that 'pavements, foundations, pottery and a great deal of money' had been ploughed up in a field known as Castle Hedges. 1 The site of these discoveries is one mile northeast of what appears to be a fairly extensive Roman settlement on the northern outskirts of Kettering. 2 The area is now under threat from ironstone-quarrying, and preliminary surveys were carried out during 1970 both from the air and on the ground. 3 These indicate that the site began in the late Iron Age with a series of enclosures and occupation subsequently continued into the Roman period. A number of pottery kilns were found which probably date to the third quarter of the first century A.D. The lime kiln which is the subject of this report was found during a geophysical survey arranged for the location of further pottery kilns. 4 It had been soundly constructed, having a circular stone-built chamber roughly 3 m in diameter and 2 m deep. The chamber had a ledge 45 cm wide running round the inside and a stone-built throat or elongated flue some 2 m in length on the south side, beyond which lay an oval pit or stoke-hole. During the lifetime of the kiln, the flue had been rebuilt and the levels of the floor and ledge of the chamber were raised. The kiln probably dates to about the middle of the second century and had presumably been associated with the villa which lies nearby to the north. 5 Little apparently remains of this building other than pitched stone foundations, although tesserae in the plough soil confirm the former presence of mosaic flooring. Lying as it does in an area of variable geology, the kiln had clearly been sited deliberately on limestone and marl, on land sloping gently to the south *J. L. Biek is responsible for the scientific and technical content. The Discussion also incorporates the results of research undertaken by B. Dix. The authors would like to thank Dr. N. Davey and Dr. F. W. Anderson for comments on site which have been used in the report, Professor S. S. Frere and Mr. R. Goodburn for advice on the text and Mr. D. Neal and the Ancient Monuments Drawing Office for the illustrations. 1 For these earlier discoveries, see VCH Northants. i (1902), 194. 2 P.S.A. xxiii 2 (1909-11), 493-501, 223-5; xxvi 2 (1913-14), 245. 3 Excavation was carried out on behalf of the Department of the Environment during the Autumn of 1970. Grateful thanks are due to the landowner, His Grace the Duke of Buccleuch, to his agent Mr. J. K. Royston, and to the tenant farmer, Mr. J. Brodie, for permission to carry out the work. 4 The survey was carried out by Messrs. A. J. Clark and D. Haddon-Reece of the Ancient Monuments Laboratory's Geophysics Section, using a gradiometer. 5 This is about a third of a mile north of the position recorded on O.S. maps.

Department of the Environment revealed an extensive Iron Age settlement and traces of widespread Roman agricultural and industrial activity at Wakerley, Northamptonshire (FIG. 2). The settlement was situated in Wakerley parish, immediately to the south of the road running between the villages of Wakerley and Harringworth and nine miles north-northeast of Corby 3 (FIG. 3). It was sited on sloping ground, overlooking the valley of the River Welland, and some \ mile from the river itself. From the site there are extensive views of the river valley to the north and west and of the hills and dales of Rutland that lie beyond. A deep natural gully occurs in the hillside, just to the west of the settlement and, as a result, the site is in an open position and fully exposed to the westerly winds. The settlement was located between the 250 and 300 ft. contours on a wide expanse of Lower Lincolnshire Limestone. Clays of the Lower Estuarine Series and outcrops of Northampton Sand and Ironstone occur on the lower slopes of the valley below the site and in the adjacent gully to the west. It is likely that a convenient supply of water would have been available in this gully in earlier periods, but this has been piped away in modern times. Some 150 m to the southwest , on the opposite side of the gully, an Anglo-Saxon cemetery was excavated by D. A. Jackson during 1968 and 1970 (report forthcoming). A small number of burials of Saxon date were found within the area of the excavation described below. Further to the southwest , some 600 m from the Iron Age and Roman site, the stone foundations of a Roman aisled barn, measuring 30 by 14 m, have also been excavated. The barn overlay earlier buildings and it is hoped that further work on this site will be possible in the future. Extensive quarrying southwest of the settlement has revealed isolated Iron 1 T. M. Ambrose has described the small finds and shared in the general preparation of this report. 2 A. L. Pacitto directed the excavation of an unusual concentration of iron-smelting furnaces, and his report is incorporated in the section on iron-working. P. J. Woods (with the assistance of R. E. Turland) excavated the three Romano-British pottery kilns and has described the results in this report. With the help of R. E. Turland he also carried out all the post-excavation work on the Romano-British pottery and has described and discussed the pottery in relation to the site as a whole. Grateful thanks are due to Miss S. A. Butcher for her report on the brooches and to Alison Cook for her report on the Anglo-Saxon grave-goods. Mr L. Biek and Dr R. F. Tylecote contributed to the section on iron-working, and thanks are due to them for visiting the site and making valuable suggestions during the excavations. Other specialist contributions are gratefully acknowledged from F.

I N the late autumn of 1968 gravel-quarrying at Aldwincle, Northants., brought to light a timber bridge of the Roman period. The working face of the gravel-pit fortunately coincided with one side of the bridge, and thereby exposed the structure in section (PL. IX A). Excavation of the bridge was carried out by D. A. Jackson during the winter of 1968/9 under the sponsorship of the Ministry of Public Building and Works. 2 THE SITE The site 3 lies at 100 ft.-above OD in Aldwincle parish, adjacent to the parish boundary with Titchmarsh and one mile north of the small market town of Thrapston. Some 170 yards south of the site the modern course of the River Nene veers to the east, but in Roman times it evidently continued in a straight line to the point where the bridge was discovered (FIG. 2). From there it apparently followed the modern course of Harpers Brook to the northeast. To the southeast of the bridge, a broad stretch of meadowland was found to be extensively covered with alluvial deposits; on the northwest side, however, the ground was drier and alluvium occurred only in hollows. The road carried by the bridge was almost certainly the route that ran from Leicester to Godmanchester (Margary Route 57A). 4 The road is recorded by Margary as far as the A 604 Thrapston-to-Oundle road, which is about threequarters of a mile southeast of the bridge. 5 Near this point there is an extensive crossroads-settlement of the Roman period, and a Roman cemetery overlying 1 This report also includes contributions from Miss J.

As a result of recent road improvements, two examples of a hitherto unknown type of iron-working furnace have been found in Northamptonshire. These are at Laxton Lodge (SP068971) and Byfield (SP505515), at different ends of the county (FIG. I). Most Romano-British furnaces belong to the shaft type which has a maximum diameter of 0–5 m. The more recently found furnaces are between 1–1.4 m in internal diameter which means that the method of working them must have been quite different from the smaller shaft furnaces.

SummaryThe Iron Age and Anglo-Saxon site at Upton near Northampton was excavated by Mr. Jackson on behalf of the Ministry of Public Building and Works, July—December 1965. In addition to Iron Age pits and ditches the principal discovery was that of a timber Saxon building which is remarkable for its combination of the structural features of a Grubenhaus with the dimensions and plan of a small timber hall. The building contained more than sixty loom-weights, and is interpreted as a weaving shed rather than a domestic occupation site. It was destroyed by fire, and charred timbers have revealed the position of internal fixed wooden furniture. From pottery and small finds it is suggested that the site was occupied in the late sixth to early seventh centuries A.D.