The Archaeology of Britain: An introduction from ... - waughfamily.ca
The Archaeology of Britain: An introduction from ... - waughfamily.ca The Archaeology of Britain: An introduction from ... - waughfamily.ca
Roman Britain: civil and rural society • 163 • Small’ towns By contrast, the ‘small’ towns of Roman Britain were local market centres, lacking the formal planning, public buildings and amenities, and the large houses of the wealthy. They ranged in size from clusters of buildings little differentiated in form, or probably function, from those on rural sites, up to major settlements comparable in extent with the ‘large’ towns (Burnham and Wacher 1990). Though more numerous than the ‘large’ towns, they have been the targets of less structured excavation and research. Characteristically, they grew up along roads or at road junctions, emphasizing the importance of communications for their commercial functions. Several also contained installations of the cursus publicus (imperial communications) and many had temples, some of which may have been the stimulus for the development of the settlement and suggest that some ‘small’ towns may have acted as religious foci for sub-divisions (pagi) of the civitas. In place of the public and the high-status buildings of the ‘large’ towns, the building-stock of the ‘small’ towns overwhelmingly consists of the shop/workshop type (Figure 9.4) already noted as the commercial and artisan premises at the ‘large’ towns. The evidence for the manufacture and distribution of imported and locally produced pottery and other artefact types out into the surrounding rural sites confirms the ‘small’ towns’ role as market and trading centres. The only commonly occurring public structures were defences, initially an earthwork and later replaced in stone like those at the ‘large’ towns. Unlike at the ‘large’ towns, these defences made no attempt to enclose the entire inhabited zone, leaving large extra-mural areas. Many ‘small’ towns had ordered cemeteries, but burials are also encountered close to and amongst the houses of the Figure 9.4 Plan of a ‘small’ town at Water Newton, Cambridgeshire, showing the defended nucleus, intramural building types, extra-mural occupation, and pottery kilns. Source: Burnham and Wacher 1990
• 164 • Simon Esmonde Cleary living. It would seem that the ‘small’ towns were at their peak in the fourth century, corresponding with the decline in commercial dominance of the ‘large’ towns, as the latter came increasingly to be occupied by the houses of the elite. Villas and the countryside One of the important features of towns at any period is that they act as channels for the diffusion of new ideas. This is evident in Roman Britain through the development in the south and east of villas, though even in these parts of the country there are variations in distribution with, for instance, clusters in the Cotswolds, central-southern England and the East Midlands and absences in the West Midlands, the Fenland and the Weald. Villa is a Latin word meaning ‘farm’, but in modern archaeological usage ‘villa’ has come to mean a rural site exhibiting Roman-style building plans and architecture, thus evoking integration into the imperial culture and probably also a closer involvement in the imperial economy than other, un-Romanized sites (Rivet 1969; Todd 1978; Hingley 1989). A problem is that the single term ‘villa’ is used to describe hundreds of sites ranging in date from the late first to the early fifth centuries and in size from cottage to palatial, suggesting in fact that form, function and social significance may have varied greatly through time. Furthermore, many villa excavations have concentrated on the principal residence and ignored the agricultural aspects of the site, though this is now changing for the better, and survey projects such as that at Maddle Farm (Berkshire) show how study of the Roman period may be integrated into and benefit from a multiperiod, landscape approach. The development of villas The earliest Romano-British villas, of the second half of the first century, show their continental origins. The most famous but atypical is the great Flavian ‘palace’ at Fishbourne (West Sussex), with its Mediterranean plan, architecture, mosaics, other decor and formal gardens with watersupply. This is often claimed as the residence of the ‘client king’ (semi-independent native ruler) Cogidubnus. Contemporary villas are otherwise modest, sometimes little more than a single rectangular room—in effect a rectilinear version of the roundhouses of the preceding Iron Age— or two or three rooms (e.g. Lockleys and Park Street, both Hertfordshire), often ranged behind a ‘winged-corridor’ façade consisting of a passage or portico with projecting rooms at either end. This type of façade occurs commonly in Britain, Gaul and Germany, masking a whole variety of suites of rooms, indicating a desire to conform to the accepted formal frontage, whatever lay behind (e.g. Ditchley, Oxfordshire; Gadebridge, Hertfordshire; and Great Staughton, Huntingdonshire). Several of these early villas show continuity from Late Iron Age sites (e.g. Gorhambury, Hertfordshire) (Figure 9.5). Another characteristic villa building was the aisled building or aisled barn, a rectangular structure with two internal rows of posts; some idea of the appearance of these can be gained from the collapsed gable wall of one excavated at Meonstoke (Hampshire). Excavated examples suggest use for storage, for craft activity and for accommodation (sometimes all at once). Aisled buildings are known either as the principal building of a small villa (e.g. Combley, Isle of Wight) or as subsidiary buildings in a larger establishment (e.g. Winterton, Lincolnshire), but are not a purely rural building type as they occur also in towns. During the second century, the plans of villas became more complex, with the principal dwelling being extended and made more elaborate, and dependencies and agricultural buildings often arranged more or less formally around a courtyard as at Llantwit Major (Glamorgan) or Rockbourne (Hampshire). After an apparent lull in villa (re)construction during much of the third century, the late third and first half of the fourth centuries saw the hey-day of the villa in Britain. This was when the maximum number were in commission. It is also the period from which some of the best-known, largest and most luxuriously appointed examples date, such as
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Roman <strong>Britain</strong>: civil and rural society<br />
• 163 •<br />
Small’ towns<br />
By contrast, the ‘small’ towns <strong>of</strong> Roman <strong>Britain</strong> were lo<strong>ca</strong>l market centres, lacking the formal<br />
planning, public buildings and amenities, and the large houses <strong>of</strong> the wealthy. <strong>The</strong>y ranged in size<br />
<strong>from</strong> clusters <strong>of</strong> buildings little differentiated in form, or probably function, <strong>from</strong> those on rural<br />
sites, up to major settlements comparable in extent with the ‘large’ towns (Burnham and Wacher<br />
1990). Though more numerous than the ‘large’ towns, they have been the targets <strong>of</strong> less structured<br />
ex<strong>ca</strong>vation and research. Characteristi<strong>ca</strong>lly, they grew up along roads or at road junctions,<br />
emphasizing the importance <strong>of</strong> communi<strong>ca</strong>tions for their commercial functions. Several also<br />
contained installations <strong>of</strong> the cursus publicus (imperial communi<strong>ca</strong>tions) and many had temples,<br />
some <strong>of</strong> which may have been the stimulus for the development <strong>of</strong> the settlement and suggest<br />
that some ‘small’ towns may have acted as religious foci for sub-divisions (pagi) <strong>of</strong> the civitas. In<br />
place <strong>of</strong> the public and the high-status buildings <strong>of</strong> the ‘large’ towns, the building-stock <strong>of</strong> the<br />
‘small’ towns overwhelmingly consists <strong>of</strong> the shop/workshop type (Figure 9.4) already noted as<br />
the commercial and artisan premises at the ‘large’ towns. <strong>The</strong> evidence for the manufacture and<br />
distribution <strong>of</strong> imported and lo<strong>ca</strong>lly produced pottery and other artefact types out into the<br />
surrounding rural sites confirms the ‘small’ towns’ role as market and trading centres.<br />
<strong>The</strong> only commonly occurring public structures were defences, initially an earthwork and later<br />
replaced in stone like those at the ‘large’ towns. Unlike at the ‘large’ towns, these defences made no<br />
attempt to enclose the entire inhabited zone, leaving large extra-mural areas. Many ‘small’ towns<br />
had ordered cemeteries, but burials are also encountered close to and amongst the houses <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Figure 9.4 Plan <strong>of</strong> a ‘small’ town at Water Newton, Cambridgeshire, showing the defended nucleus, intramural<br />
building types, extra-mural occupation, and pottery kilns.<br />
Source: Burnham and Wacher 1990