Monument record 0622200000 - PUTLOWES, FLEET MARSTON

Records for Fleet Marston Roman town re-ordered. See CASS 00656, 00853, 01025, 06140 & 06223 for records relating to each constituent land parcel.
Geophysical surveys carried out by Pre-Construct Geophysics between January and May 2009 identified a dense concentration of pits and ditched property boundaries in Fields 8 and 9, representing part of the Roman settlement and possible boundary ditches defining the northern extent of the settlement. The enclosures appear to be laid out at right angles to a side road, but to be cut obliquely by Akeman Street. See report for detail (B7).
A group of linear anomalies [1] measuring approximately 40m by 65m has been detected in the south-central part of Area 2. These anomalies apparently represent part of an enclosure. They extend beyond the survey area. There are a number of anomalies within enclosure. Three of these anomalies feed directly off the main enclosure, forming possible internal sub-divisions. The remaining anomalies in the enclosure are less certain in nature. They are visible both as discrete anomalies and as a general zone of increased response. It is likely that many of these anomalies are archaeological in origin, but it is not possible to differentiate between archaeological responses and natural soil variation within this complex data. A pair of linear anomalies runs across the southern part of the site on a west-northwest/east-south-east alignment. The southern parallel anomaly is visible within Area 2 only, while the northern anomaly continues across Area 2 and through Area 1. The relationship between these features and enclosure is unclear. The southernmost of the parallel anomalies is much broader and more prominent than the northern feature. These responses run parallel to the projected line of Roman Akeman Street and may represent roadside ditches, although they are a few metres to the south of the projected alignment of the ancient thoroughfare (B8).
Scheduled 30th May 2025. The remains of the Roman settlement at Fleet Marston, on the route of Akeman Street, Aylesbury, are scheduled for the following principal reasons:
- Period: the remains include evidence of activity from the early Roman period, with the initial construction of Akeman Street, as well as later modifications in the mid-late Roman period, in association with the establishment of the roadside settlement, all of which are strongly representative of the period;
- Survival: although partially under plough, the below-ground remains of the core of this roadside settlement survive well as shown in recent geophysical surveys and excavations;
- Documentation: the recent archaeological work provides good evidence for the national importance of the settlement;
- Diversity: the area includes the remains of the major Roman road of Akeman Street and an adjacent Roman roadside settlement, including ditched enclosures, and potential for evidence of structures and buildings, together with at least one further minor Roman road and evidence for Iron Age occupation activity;
- Potential: the unexcavated areas have the potential to retain important archaeological features, enviromental deposits and artefacts which will contribute to our knowledge and understanding of the form and construction of Roman infrastructure and settlement, and social and economic aspects of Romano-British life. See Scheduling entry for detail (B11).




(SP 778154) Roman Remains found (NAT) (B12).
A heavy scatter of Roman pottery found by W T Millar, (AO Field Investigator) while cheacking the course of Akeman Street. It indicates an intermediate station between Alchester and Verulamium (B2).
C1st and C2nd pottery found by R W Bagshawe, now in Luton Museum (B3).
Indications of enclosures on A/Ps. (B13)
The farmer, Mr G J Jarvis, (a) says that the area centred at SP 778154 (as outlined on 6" sheet) was once heavily scattered with pottery sherds and tile, and that he mechanically removed 'building material and foundations' about 1941. Among the finds were some five Roman coins and an iron fetter (the latter found at c SP 779150 and identified at St Albans Museum, with a dating of between 100 and 350 AD; one of the coins also identified there as a bronze of Constans). Mr Jarvis retains two of the coins and about 7lbs of selected sherds, including a good proportion of Samian. The area is now mostly under crop. In the late 1950s a council tenant, W G Smith (b), found between 20 and 30 Roman coins near the surface in the garden of his end-terrace house, at SP 78161546. He gave away all but two, which have also been identified (though not authoritatively) as Constans. Within the garden is a heavy concentration of pottery sherds, including Samian and pieces of amphorae. No finds are known to have been made in adjacent gardens. The only obvious enclosure on the air-photographs cited is clearly an old field boundary. Not only is the site on Akeman Street but it is also at or near the probable junctions of RR162 and 173a with it (B14).
Recutting of a ditch revealed a black occupation level sealed by a clayey silt extending from SP 77671558 to SP 77861558 (B6).
NRHE Insert 1997, Updated 1999, 2000. and 2010 (B15)