The well-preserved remains of a Roman town during survey work for a solar farm Cambridgeshire given heritage protection status as a scheduled monument.
The buried archaeological features of the settlement near Great Staughton cover 31 hectares (77 acres) and include ditches, pits, postholes and gravel surfaces representing roads or garden areas.
The remains show the extensive streets and buildings of a highly organized Roman settlement with an urban character, Historical England said.
Artifacts recovered include pottery, animal bone, glass, copper alloy objects, iron objects, coins and shells. Evidence also suggests that there may have been pottery kilns and blacksmith forges.
The first indication that there might be an ancient settlement near Great Staughton came in 2009, and the town was fully identified by aerial photography in 2019. Harvest marks indicated a settlement and a geophysical survey was conducted as part of the East Park Energy solar and storage project.
Recognizing the historic importance of the remains, Brockwell Storage & Solar, the developers behind the renewable energy project, amended its plans and applied for heritage protection of the site, which was granted by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport on advice of Historic England.
The site appears to focus on a central open space, with railways radiating from it, forming a network of roads. Between the roads there are organized rectangular camps. Away from the central space, crop marks indicating numerous large pits indicate industrial activity of some kind.
Historic England said it was possible that streams that once led to the River Kym had been diverted to provide water or contribute to an industrial process. On the higher ground, overlooking the town, there was a Roman villa.
Duncan Wilson, the chief executive of Historic England, said: “This was clearly an important Roman town. The scale and diversity of the archaeological features gives a remarkable insight into Roman life in the east of England and helps us to understand more about when people came to this place, how they lived and worked, and why they is gone.”
Victoria Oleksy, the associate director at AOC Archaeology Group, who carried out the evaluation work, said: “It is quite rare to find such an archaeologically important site and on such a large scale. The potential for the site to contribute to our understanding of Roman settlement is considerable.”
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Heritage Minister Chris Bryant said: “As this newly discovered Roman town shows, our history is full of remarkable and often inspiring stories. That is why it is so important to dig up and burn our historical treasures to protect them for generations. It gives us a rare insight into the history of a life long before our own and will continue to expand our knowledge and understanding of the Roman era.”
Small Roman towns began to emerge in Britain in the middle of the first century AD. About 140 have been recorded in England, mainly concentrated in the Midlands and central southern England.
To protect the Roman town, no more solar development is proposed on the land, which will be given over to grazing. Historic England and Cambridgeshire County Council are advising East Park Energy on the care and management of the newly scheduled monument.
