Piercebridge Roman Fort and Holme House Roman Villa Excavations
Background
Piercebridge Roman fort and the neighbouring Holme House villa site were both excavated between 1969 and 1982, partly in response to gravel extraction operations. These operations eventually destroyed the villa; however, the excavations uncovered a substantial amount of material at both sites. This includes a vast quantity of artefacts: in rounded numbers, 2,700 coins, c50,000 fragments of coarse pottery, 7,000 fragments of Samian pottery, 1,200 fragments of Roman vessel glass and large numbers of other objects. For a number of reasons, the excavations have never been written up and published in full. This regrettable situation meant only a handful of individuals were aware of the importance of the sites. This was slightly alleviated by English Heritage and Durham County Council conserving and displaying some of the building remains that had been uncovered by these excavations. Darlington Borough Council now maintains these.The Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund financed a recent project enabling the County Council not only to publish full reports of both excavations, but also to revise and update the original guidebook to Piercebridge (Guidebook to the Visible Remains of Roman Piercebridge), and to rewrite the interpretation panels at the site. The ALSF provides funds to help address the environmental costs of aggregate extraction: Piercebridge and Holme House villa were eligible for funding as both had been damaged by gravel extraction.
What was Known about the Sites Before the Re-analysis
Piercebridge
Excavations from the 1930s to the 1950s located and uncovered the fort’s line of defenses, and a latrine block which is now on display. These excavations also exposed parts of the eastern defenses of the fort, including the eastern gate, and parts of the internal perimeter road. Aerial photographs revealed that there was a civilian settlement (vicus) east of the fort. Later excavations of this vicus uncovered a possible temple to Jupiter, a large courtyard building and an attached bath-house. The 1971-2 excavations also uncovered the remains of a previously unknown Roman bridge, built around 200 AD.Holme House Villa
Excavations in the late 1960s and early 1970s revealed a succession of occupation phases from the middle or late Iron Age to the late fourth century AD. The earliest settlement was represented by a sub-rectangular ditched enclosure, itself subject to at least one phase of reconstruction, centrally located within which was a series of circular timber buildings of the pre-Roman Iron Age. Towards the end of the first century AD, this settlement was succeeded by a small, rectangular cottage-type villa. This period of occupation came to an abrupt end towards the end of the second century, not through any hostile action since the occupants evidently had time to dismantle and salvage much of the usable building materials of the villa, but probably from increasingly frequent flooding of the adjacent river Tees. There is evidence of re-occupation in the late fourth century, the character of which has not been adequately investigated through lack of time and resources. The importance of Holme House derives not least from the fact that it is the second most northerly villa known in the Roman Empire, the site at Old Durham having been destroyed by quarrying before any significant rescue-excavation could be undertaken. Its existence at such an early date in the hinterland of the frontier zone clearly has crucial implications for an understanding of the Romanisation of north Britain.
Principal Results of the Project
While some work had been done towards completing full excavation reports by the original site director and assorted experts, these had never been completed. What’s more, new discoveries and improvements in knowledge since the draft analyses were done means that in many cases their conclusions had become woefully out of date. Thanks to the ALSF, the Archaeology Section has been able to take account of this new information for the new publications and interpretation.The location of Roman remains at Piercebridge (at the point where the main Roman road to Scotland east of the Pennines - known as Dere Street - crosses the River Tees) has led to the belief that the site is an early Roman fort. Full analysis of the excavations carried out between by Peter Scott, the director of the excavations in the 1970s and 1980s, show that while civilian settlement began to develop along Dere Street on the north bank of the Tees from around 100 AD, there was no evidence that this was due to the existence of a military installation in the near vicinity. It may be that an early fort awaits discovery somewhere on the south bank of the river, mirroring the location of the late first century forts at Binchester and Catterick.
There seems to have been a significant increase in activity at the site around 180 AD. This is indicated by a massive increase in the range, quantity and quality of pottery, glassware and metalwork found dating from this period.
This increase in activity could be due to the arrival of an army unit and there are hints that a military installation of some form may have been established on the site later occupied by the known fort.
Things become a little more certain in the opening decades of the third century when there is evidence, mainly in the form of inscriptions, for the presence of soldiers from several different legions at Piercebridge, some of whom were serving in detachments seconded from legions in other provinces. What these legionary detachments were doing at Binchester is another matter. Possibly they were engaged in the construction of the new bridge across the river or it may have been the intention to station a legionary garrison at Piercebridge permanently as happened at Carlisle and Corbridge in this period. The civil settlement, on both the north and south banks of the river, grew in response to the military presence in the years around 200 AD. By c. 230 AD civilian buildings covered a total area of around 12 hectares (30 acres). Some of these were quite substantial structures, and built of solidly constructed masonry.
A fort was built to the west of the civil settlement, north of the Tees, in c. 260AD. This large (just over 4 hectares or 10 acres) and well defended military installation incorporated an earlier courtyard building and bath-house.
Little is known of the internal buildings apart from those already mentioned: walls built of finely dressed masonry in the centre of the fort may well belong to the headquarters building while other structural remains seem likely to represent barracks. Other parts of the fort appear to have been open ground, possibly used for the secure parking/storage of goods and equipment in transit.
Piercebridge has been tentatively identified with the place-name Morbium mentioned in a late Roman document known as the Notitia Dignitatum. If this is correct, then its garrison in the fourth century was a unit of heavy cavalry known as the Equites Catafractarii.
The fort seems to have been occupied and its defenses maintained for many decades after 400 AD, with the latest alterations to the ditch system happening in the fifth century. Indeed, it may well have been inhabited continuously until it was taken over by Anglian settlers at some point during the second half of the sixth century.
For further information about the project please contact either:
Archaeology Section
Adult and Community Services
Libraries, Learning and Culture
Durham County Council
The Rivergreen Centre
Aykley Heads
Durham
Co. Durham
DH1 5TS
Tel: 0191 3708842/8843
Email: Archaeology
