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Northern Archaeological Associates (NAA) are working on behalf of Yorkshire Water, to excavate and record archaeological remains along the route of their new water pipeline between Acomb Landing, York and Marton-cum-Grafton.

For much of the way the new pipeline runs alongside the A59 road, which has long been considered to follow the route of a Roman road connecting Roman settlements at York and Aldborough, near Boroughbridge.

Roman road before excavation

Survey work undertaken during the planning of the pipeline route, identified a new archaeological site to the north of the A59, close to the River Nidd. The site is located in a pasture field on the west bank of the river, between Pool Lane, leading to Nun Monkton, and the modern A59 bridge.

It was therefore agreed with Yorkshire Water that NAA would excavate the site in advance of pipeline construction. The work would investigate a 10m (30ft) wide strip across the field; that part of the site which would be directly affected by the new pipeline. Archaeologists would also be present during the removal of topsoil along the remainder of the route in order to investigate any further archaeological features that might be present.

The main dig

The most important discovery is a section of Roman road which takes a different route from the A59, running to the north-east and heading towards the modern settlement of Green Hammerton. The direction of the road seems to suggest that the Roman crossing point of the River Nidd lies in the same location as the old Skip Bridge, which dates to the early 19th century.

The construction of the Roman road had some similarities to modern methods, but using only natural materials. A 10m (30ft) wide trough was dug to create a level base. A foundation of clay was then built up with a curved surface to allow drainage. Cobbles were placed across the top of the clay to form a firm base, which was then covered by up to 15cm (6 inches) of gravel. This was the surface of the road, and would have looked rather like a gravel farm track of today. Any rainfall running off the road would collect in a ditch running along either side.

On each side of the road were a number of enclosures, small fields edged with ditches.听Some of these were running at right angles to the road, which means that they were in use at the same time. However, there were also ditches which were earlier than the Roman road. These were most likely to date to the Iron Age, before the Roman conquest, and were associated with a number of houses.

The Iron Age houses were circular and up to 10m (30ft) across. There was evidence that the roofs were supported on upright timbers, and storage pits were found cut into the floor.

Roman ceramics

Within the pits were large numbers of fire-cracked river cobbles, known as pot-boilers, which had been heated in the fire and then dropped into water to bring it to the boil for cooking purposes. One house also had an internal division formed from a wattle hurdle. To the west of the round houses, a series of short, closely-spaced gullies were identified extending for approximately 5m. It appears that these represent small-scale crop cultivation, similar to a modern kitchen garden.

One area alongside the Roman road consisted of very dark soil containing lots of charcoal and burnt animal bone, and many cobbles. Some of the stones had been placed in clusters, probably as bases for roof supports. This may have been part of a Roman building; the soil was the remains of rubbish that had been allowed to build up within and around the building.

A small setting of gritstone blocks was located close to these possible building remains, and was interpreted as a possible grave. Whilst excavation did not produce any proven human remains, there was a small quantity of burnt bone. Further analysis will show whether it was human.

As well as the features that were excavated, the dig turned up a number of interesting finds. Most of these were pieces of broken pottery dating from the Roman period. Some had been imported from Gaul, now Northern France, and others had been used for grinding herbs and spices for cooking.

Excavating the possible Roman building.

Parts of small stones for the hand-grinding of corn, known as quernstones, show that flour was being produced on a small scale, probably in each house. We also know that wool was being spun on part of the site. The evidence for this is a small round stone disc with a central hole, called a spindle whorl, which is a fore-runner of the spinning wheel.

A number of finds also show that close to the dig there was a more important Roman building. These consist of fragments of roof tiles (known as tegulae and imbrices) and tiles from an early form of central heating (tubuli). There were remains of at least one amphora, a large pottery vessel used for importing and storing wine and cooking oil, and small fragments of glass drinking vessels.

The field surrounding the site contains traces of medieval ploughing overlying the Roman and earlier features, indicating that the site had returned to agriculture by the medieval period. The direction of the medieval ploughing shows that the Roman road was probably still visible at that time, and may have continued in use for many years. Medieval horse shoes, pottery and a lead musket ball have also been recovered from the site.

Other sites identified along the route

Traces of the Roman road have been found in a number of separate fields to the south of the A59, extending as far east as Shirbutt Lane (now a bridleway leading from the A59 to Hessay). In addition to the main site, Roman ditches and pits have been identified to the west and east, suggesting that Roman settlement was spread along either side of the road for some distance.

Oliver Cooper