Hinckley Road, Sapcote, Leicestershire

Between January and June of 2019 Oxford Archaeology carried out archaeological excavations to the south of Hinckley Road in Sapcote, Leicestershire (SP 4830 9343), with three separate areas covering a total of 1.7ha. Evidence for prehistoric activity was restricted to a single pit associated with Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age pottery, and most of the features revealed by the excavations related to Romano-British activity, with a set of conjoined rectangular enclosures representing a long-lived, relatively low-status Romano-British farmstead. Although no structural remains were found, a small ditched enclosure may have represented a building compound, and the enclosures were associated with a relatively large number of discrete pits, including a large well. The finds assemblages from the enclosure ditches and associated features were relatively modest but included over 300 sherds of Roman pottery dating from the mid 1st century to 4th century AD. The fills of several pits within and around the enclosures produced evidence for crop processing and metalworking (smithing) as well as assemblages of fired clay and reused ceramic building material probably representing the remains of ovens. The most notable individual find was a large fragment of quern stone bearing unusual grooved decoration, recovered form on the enclosure ditches. Activity at the site seems to have ended in the 4th century, and later activity is represented by a single pit associated with a small quantity if Anglo-Saxon pottery and by the remains of extensive medieval to post-medieval ridge and furrow. The Roman activity recorded at Hinckley Road represents an important addition to the corpus of excavated Roman rural settlements in this part of Leicestershire and is also significant in terms of its proximity to a major, but poorly understood, villa complex located little over 1km to the east at Calver Hill.