Investigations at a Roman Villa Site, Ailsworth: A Preliminary Report

An investigation was undertaken on 18th October 1997 at the site of a Roman Villa (Scheduled Ancient Monument No.125) following reports that the site had been deep-ploughed. The work was undertaken to assess the amount of damage that the deep-ploughing had brought about in relation to the affects of historical ploughing at usual levels. The work was undertaken by a team of archaeology students on a certificate course at the Board of Continuing Education, Madingley Hall, University of Cambridge and led by Dr Tim Reynolds of Cambridgeshire County Council. A brief metal detecting survey was undertaken over the villa itself by members of East Cambridge Detectors Society. The background level of damage to the surviving monument was found to me minimal but deep-ploughing had brought up a number of tesserae, tile fragments and exposed the top of a limestone wall. Non-building cultural material was rare, even at the site of the villa itself, suggesting that any surviving midden deposits or stratified layers were only minimally affected even by the deep-ploughing. It is recommended that he site be brought out of ploughing and placed ina stewardship scheme, which would protect teh site more fully and enhance the existing Nene Way public access. Interpretation boards would also be a valuable addition to the Durobrivae landscape as a whole.