Living beside the Fosse Way
Iron Age and Romano-British settlement, and a landscape of transport and transition at Offchurch, Warwickshire
Introduction
Before a bridge, tunnel or station is built on the HS2 railway project, the largest ever UK archaeology programme has been taking place along the line of route. The archaeological work at Fosse Way is one of over 100 sites that is helping us understand more about our history.
Nestled between the looping curves of the River Leam lies a landscape 2000 years in the making. From Iron Age trackways to railways and canals, networks of travel and communication have long traversed and transformed the Warwickshire parish of Offchurch. Excavation here in 2020 revealed an early chapter of this story. Use this digital guide to remotely explore the archaeology of the site, and to see what it tells us about the changing landscape over time.
Headland archaeologists arrive on site on a cold morning
As part of the works in advance of High Speed 2 rail link, archaeologists worked on two main areas of excavation to the north of the village of Offchurch. A team of 42 archaeologists worked on the site from June to November 2020.
Every Headland Site has complied with Government and industry guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic, including full risk assessments and the introduction of clear management plans and control measures.
Click to explore the location of the excavation site and two historic routeways
Offchurch village is situated 4.8km (3 miles) east of the town of Leamington Spa. It lies at the crossing point of two historic routes: Welsh Road and the Fosse Way.
Offchurch has a long history. Some historians believe the village may have been the site of a palace of King Offa of Mercia, one of the seven Saxon kingdoms, which occupied the area of the present day English Midlands. The name of the village means 'Offa's church'. In the 19th century, an earlier Anglo-Saxon burial ground was uncovered in the village. The burials which dated to around AD 650 contained a shield, spearheads, knives and items of jewellery. More information on the village and its history can be found in Warwickshire's Timetrail.
The Church of St. Gregory is a Grade II* listed building. Although nothing of the Saxon church survives, the nave and chancel date from the 11th–12th-century, and the tower is 15th century.
The parish church of St Gregory, Offchurch
Seeing below
Before excavations began, both areas were examined by geophysical survey, in this instance with a magnetometer. This type of equipment allows archaeological features such as ditches or pits to be plotted and observed even before a spade is put in the ground. Over time, cut features can become infilled with topsoil which is more magnetic than the surrounding earth, often allowing the features to be detected. Other activity, such as burning from hearths or kilns, can also leave magnetic traces.
Surveys were undertaken both before and after the overlying soil layers were stripped, as the archaeological features were difficult to identify visually on the ground even after the upper soil was removed.
A wheeled cart used for magnetometry survey
The survey showed a concentration of archaeological features across both fields.
The North Site (left) was shown to contain several rectangular enclosures with small entrances, as well as a number of ring-shaped ditches, probably the remains of roundhouses. These circular timber structures may have functioned as domestic living spaces and may also have been used as spaces for craft activities such as weaving.
A reconstructed roundhouse at Butser Ancient Farm in Hampshire.
The South Site (right) produced evidence for a system of large rectangular and square fields which were connected via routeways.
Recent agricultural activity was represented by numerous plough scars and land drains crossing both sites.
An archaeologist excavating pottery
Settling and growing
After the surveys were complete, the two areas were excavated to further explore the archaeological features identified by the geophysical survey.
A small enclosed settlement of roundhouses was found within the North Area. The site was occupied in the Middle Iron Age (400–100 BC). Many of the roundhouses were situated within a field around 150m by 75m in area, framed by ditches on all sides. The geophysical survey showed a similarly sized enclosure containing other features lay to the east beyond the limits of excavation. This was probably a seasonal settlement that was only occupied for part of the year before the inhabitants moved on.
To the south of the settlement was a network of linear features creating large agricultural enclosures. This field system had a trackway which ran north–south through the centre of the site with large fields extending to the left and right. Many features contained pottery that was Romano-British in date (43 to 410 AD), showing this area of the site was in use later than the settlement to the north. Some post-holes from this area show that small timber buildings stood on the site, probably of an agricultural nature. Other evidence suggested possible metalworking and pottery kilns were somewhere nearby. At least three ovens, probably used for drying grain, were also identified.
Archaeologists cleaning an area ready for excavation
Explore the excavations by clicking on the map points below, or tap the first text box to tour around the site.
Roundhouses
Roundhouses. Click to expand.
These circular ditches are probably the remains of domestic roundhouses. Seven were excavated from this settlement, although the geophysical survey showed more to the east, which were not excavated as they lay outside the HS2 scheme boundary.
Small enclosures
Small enclosures. Click to expand.
These rectangular fields, edged by ditches, may have contained the household's livestock.
Settlement boundary
Settlement boundary. Click to expand.
The roundhouses were situated within a ditched boundary. A trackway may have approached from the west.
Unexcavated settlement
Unexcavated settlement. Click to expand.
Further roundhouses and features to the east lay outside the HS2 scheme boundary, but could be seen on the results of the geophysical survey (shown here in green). Given the excavated features appear to be of limited complexity and short use, the area to the east may have been the primary settlement to which the excavated site was peripheral.
Silver groat of Edward III
Silver groat of Edward III. Click to expand.
Metal detecting undertaken during excavation by trained archaeologists identified several metal finds.
Site boundary
Site boundary. Click to expand.
The southern site may have been edged to the north by a long, curving boundary ditch. This continued to be used as a land boundary long after the Romano-British use the site was over; it may have existed into medieval times.
Agricultural fields
Agricultural fields. Click to expand.
In the southern site, a network of linked fields edged by ditches were identified. It is not known if these were used to contain livestock or grow crops. The fields extended to the east, south and west.
Trackway
Trackway. Click to expand.
The fields were connected by a long trackway which passed to the north through the South Site. This was edged in several places by double ditched boundaries, and may have had small offshoots to the east and west for access.
Denarius of Faustina
Denarius of Faustina. Click to expand.
This Roman coin (denarius) shows Faustina Junior, wife of Marcus Aurelius, and was minted between AD 147–176.
Iron Age and Romano-British brooches
Iron Age and Romano-British brooches. Click to expand.
Three brooches were found by metal detecting on the site. The pictured example probably dates from the late Iron Age.
Corn-drying oven 1
Corn-drying oven 1. Click to expand.
Three stone T-shaped ovens were found on site. One was accessed by a track that was edged by ditches, and was enclosed within a ring ditch, perhaps showing it originally had a roof.
Corn-drying oven 2
Corn-drying oven 2. Click to expand.
A second corn-drying oven was constructed within a small rectangular field.
Corn-drying oven 3
Corn-drying oven 3. Click to expand.
Some of the post-holes in the area of this oven may suggest a timber structure stood nearby.
Medieval ploughing
Medieval ploughing. Click to expand.
The linear marks seen across all the areas (shown in yellow) are the remains of medieval 'ridge and furrow' ploughing, where the same strips of land were prepared for cultivation year after year with a single-sided plough. In the South Site, the plough scars change direction, showing where several fields met.
Grain processing
Three corn-drying ovens were excavated from the site. Over one hundred kilns thought to be used to dry corn in the Romano-British era have been recorded in England. These would have had a floor set above them onto which threshed grain was scattered. When a fire was lit inside the T-shaped oven, hot air would be drawn along the flue and rise through the floor, drying the grain for storage or another process such as malting.
Along with a number of quern fragments—grinding stones used for processing grain—the presence of cereal grains identified in the archaeological soils of both sites suggests that there may have been long lived history of cereal grain processing here from the Iron Age into Romano-British times.
Click on the image below to explore a 3D model of one of the corn-drying ovens.
3D model of a corn-drying oven from Offchurch
Accessing a Roman world
The Roman road network transformed the landscape of Britain, creating communication links that connected the country like never before. Though the Offchurch settlement might have initially been built alongside the Welsh Road drover's track, the later construction of the Fosse Way during the Roman era gave access to a routeway that extended all the way from Exeter to Lincoln and was vital for communication, trade and transport.
Explore the map below to see how the Roman roads, settlements, forts and colonia (outposts) occupied the landscape around the excavation site. Click in the bottom left-hand side for the key.
Explore Roman settlements, roads and forts in the area of the site.
Staying put and moving on
Transport and transition: a digital guided tour
From the construction of the Roman road network onwards, the landscape around Offchurch has been shaped by two thousand years of transport and travel. Whether staying put, or moving on by foot, hoof, road, rail, boat or air, the process of moving through the landscape has left many traces visible today.
Use the digital guide below to remotely explore the landscape of transport in transition in the Offchurch area.
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Heading home
