York Historic Environment Record

A previously unknown Roman roadside settlement with pottery kilns was identified to the east of Green Hammerton during archaeological work connected with the installation of a water pipeline between Marton and Acomb Landing, North Yorkshire, in 2008–9. The investigations also confirmed the location and course of Dere Street Roman road towards York and the likely site of the Roman bridging point on the River Nidd. The roadside settlement site lay on the west bank of the Nidd, immediately to the north of the modern A59 primary road, and comprised a series of enclosures and buildings on either side of Dere Street over an area of c.5ha. A side road dated to an early phase of the settlement, as did three of four investigated roundhouses. Two later rectangular buildings, a roundhouse and three pottery kilns were located alongside the road and dated from the 3rd to 4th centuries AD. Two of the kilns were considered to be part of the smallscale, dispersed rural potting industry that produced Dales-type jars in gritty grey ware, an industry of which little is known in this part of Yorkshire. The course of Roman Dere Street was exposed at four locations along the water pipeline route. It was evident that the current A59 road between Green Hammerton and Upper Poppleton followed the Roman alignment closely, only deviating from it at two river crossings. The alignment of the Roman road at Pool Lane suggested that the Roman bridging point on the Nidd was in a similar position to that occupied by an 18th-century bridge to the south of the modern road bridge. This section of the Roman road was also the best preserved, as the area had been under pasture rather than being cultivated farmland. The road at Pool Lane was defined by flanking ditches, which delineated a series of cobble and pebble layers, with evidence that the stone foundations were constructed on organic material, possibly brushwood. Sections of the Roman road were exposed at three other locations (Skip Bridge Farm, Moor Monkton Moor and Shirbutt Closes), where it survived as a plough-damaged cobbled surface. A large midden deposit, which sealed three substantial ditches and a small number of other features, was recorded to the east of the Nidd at Gowlands. The accompanying artefacts suggested the presence of a high-status Roman period building in the near vicinity.