Derby Racecourse Roman settlement
The Derby Racecourse Roman settlement is a small Roman town which has been discovered in Derby. It is found in southern Derbyshire, less than half a mile east of Derventio fort in Little Chester, on the outskirts of Derby.[1] The Roman road from Derventio to Sawley on the River Trent passes the settlement. It is a scheduled ancient monument.
Description
The first Roman fort in the area was built on the opposite bank of the River Derwent at Strutt's Park. It was replaced about AD 80 by a fort at Little Chester, but this only lasted about forty years, then decommissioned. The fort was later re-occupied and re-used for a further twenty five years then unoccupied until the late 3rd century when a stone wall was built around the town.[2]
The site is considered by English Heritage to be an import example of a fort-vicus. This was a civilian settlement attached to a Roman military fort; in this case Derventio Coritanorum. It is a mark that the Cornovii tribesmen were accepting the Roman way of life and integrating themselves into the Roman economy- i.e. Romanisation.[3]
Pottery kilns have been discovered dating from AD90 to the mid second century when ironworking took place. The jug illustrated was fired at this settlement and is now in Derby Museum. There was also a large cemetery with five stone mausolea.
The site was excavated between 1968 and 1983.
Location
- Location map: 52°56’5"N, 1°27’49"W
Outside links
- "Little Chester / Chester Green". Discover Derbyshire and the Peak District. http://www.derbyshire-peakdistrict.co.uk/derbylittlechester.htm.
- Derventio Roman Fort: Heritage Gateway
References
- ↑ Burnham, Barry C and Wacher, John: 'The Small Towns of Roman Britain' (B T Batsford, 1990) ISBN 978-0-520-07303-6
- ↑ Vinnels, Maria (15 June 2006). "Manor Kingsway SPD Derby". White Young Green Environment Ltd for English Heritage. http://eplanning.derby.gov.uk/acolnet/DocumentsOnline/documents/23924_33.pdf.
- ↑ "Derby Racecourse Roman vicus & cemetery". Derby City Council. http://www.derby.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/CF205AE5-D534-494F-A195-8438B8027BD6/0/P_DerbyRacecourseRomanvicuscemetery1.pdf.
- M. Brassington (1971). "A Trajanic kiln-complex near Little Chester, Derby". Antiquaries Journal 51: 36–69. doi:10.1017/s0003581500019144.
- M. Brassington (1981). The Roman roads of Derby. 101. 88–92.
- M. Dearne (1991). "The military vici of the South Pennines: retrospect and prospect". in R. Hodges, K. Smith. Recent Developments in the Archaeology of the Peak District. Sheffield: Sheffield University Press. pp. 69–84. ISBN 978-0-906090-38-1.
- J. Dool, H. Wheeler (1986). "Roman Derby - Excavations 1968–1983". Derbyshire Archaeological Journal 105, 1985.
- J. Dool (1986). "Roman Derby - Excavations 1968–1983". Derbyshire Archaeological Journal 105, 1985: 155–221. - "Derby Racecourse: Excavations on the Roman Industrial Settlement, 1974"
- Vivien G. Swan (1984). The Pottery Kilns of Roman Britain. London: Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England. ISBN 978-0-11-701203-5.
