Excavations at Holme Hall Quarry, between Doncaster and Rotherham, have revealed how the landscape was transformed into extensive, carefully planned field systems and farmsteads during the early Roman period. Was this development the work of local Iron Age communities, or a land grab by an occupying army? Francis M Morris, who has recently completed post-excavation analysis and publication through Archaeological Research Services Ltd, explains more.
The Magnesian Limestone that sweeps across north-east England, has long been a focus of archaeological interest. Iron Age and Roman field systems are widely visible as cropmarks on this geology and its margins in County Durham, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, north Nottinghamshire, and north-east Derbyshire, and since the 1990s several examples have been investigated in developer-funded excavations. They tend to be distinctive in form, often with a regular ‘coaxial’ pattern (uniform fields running along a common axis) extending over long distances. Nevertheless, significant research questions remain, particularly regarding precisely when these field systems were established, when they were abandoned, and the role that they played in relation to the Roman military who occupied forts in the surrounding landscape from the mid- to late 1st century AD onwards in the areas south of the river Don. This picture is now becoming clearer, however, as recent large-scale excavations at Holme Hall Quarry, which is operated by Breedon Group, have contributed significantly to our understanding, offering detailed insights into how the early Roman frontier region in Britain was organised prior to the invasion of the territory of the Brigantes in c.AD 69.
Holme Hall Quarry is a large limestone extraction site in South Yorkshire, lying immediately south of the M18 motorway, 7.6km (4.7 miles) south-west of Doncaster, and 3.2km (2 miles) south of the River Don. Archaeological Research Services Ltd were commissioned by Breedon to investigate an area of some 34 hectares (84 acres), as part of a planning application to extend the quarry workings. An initial extensive geophysical survey revealed the presence of several possible enclosures, field ditches, and a droveway of possibly Iron Age/Roman date, and excavations followed in 2015 and 2019-2022. Together, this work has literally put the quarry’s historic landscape on the map, revealing a busy landscape of multi-period remains across an area where very little archaeology had previously been known.
AN EVOLVING LANDSCAPE
Our story begins long before the Roman period. The earliest evidence of a human presence identified on the site came in the form of 206 chipped lithics ranging in date from the Mesolithic to the early Bronze Age. The vast majority of these were found in topsoil rather than contemporary features, but they provide important context for the hunter-gatherer groups who once utilised this landscape, as well as its more extensive use by the Early Neolithic farmers who built their burial monuments along the Magnesian Limestone ridge. Middle Iron Age occupation also emerged during our investigations. Two pits were radiocarbon-dated to the 4th to 2nd centuries BC, and one of these appeared to be associated with a possible post-built structure that was otherwise undated. These features provide a useful addition to our knowledge of a period which is not well represented in South Yorkshire due to the paucity of pottery of this date.
The main phase of occupation of the site, however, was during the Roman period (just possibly beginning in the late Iron Age – based on the radiocarbon date standard deviation, but this is considered unlikely). It was represented by an extensive, well-preserved field system spanning at least 650m (2,133ft) east–west by 495m (1,624ft) north–south, which was sample-excavated across a large, continuous area covering some 25.8 hectares (63.8 acres) in the western and central parts of the site. Following the familiar rectilinear/coaxial pattern, the fields were typically around 0.5-0.9 hectares (1.2-2.2 acres) in area, though larger and smaller examples were also documented. Although a few field- and enclosure-ditches had been recut, we could not see any clear evidence for this mass of features developing in different phases. This is significant, as it suggests that the entire field system could have formed part of a large-scale reorganisation of the landscape, with a focus on increasing agricultural production.
The different fields may have been demarcated by stone-faced earth or earth-and-rubble banks following the lines of their ditches. Such constructions have been found preserved just 2km (1.2 miles) to the north of the site at Edlington Wood, and at Holme Hall Quarry the discovery of limestone rocks and blocks within the fills of the field ditches were interpreted as possible collapsed or cleared examples of the same. These fills also produced pottery fragments suggesting that the field system had been established in, or just possibly even before, the 1st century AD, and were backfilled during the Roman period – but only small amounts, indicating a generally low density of occupation at this time. The earliest pottery identified was in the Lincolnshire/Trent Valley native/Iron Age tradition, associated with the 1st to mid-2nd centuries AD. This was found in the fills of four ditches in different parts of the site. Other field boundaries produced a few Roman sherds (with nothing necessarily post-dating the mid-2nd century), as well as a handful of other finds including iron nails, a small iron bar, and a scrap of copper-alloy sheet.
Contrasting with these dispersed finds, a major feature associated with the field system was a droveway that ran for at least 489m (1,604ft) north–south across the full extent of the excavated area. This gently sloping track measured 3.1-5.5m (10.2-18ft) wide between its ditches, and these flanking features contained no artefacts to indicate its likely date. A possible pit or area of wear within its surface yielded ten probable hobnails – perhaps from a discarded or lost shoe – indicating that this route had been active during the Roman period. It would have been travelled by both people and livestock, and may have linked up with the Roman east–west road 3km (1.9 miles) to the north, which probably ran between the forts at Templeborough and Doncaster. It possibly formed the fortified frontier of the Roman Empire in this region prior to AD 69.
This is an extract of an article that appeared in CA 424. Read on in the magazine, or click here to read it online at The Past, where you can read all of the Current Archaeology articles in full as well as the content of our other magazines, Current World Archaeology, Ancient Egypt, and Military History Matters.
