Monument record 0073200000 - SALDEN WOOD, MURSLEY

Summary

Early Roman iron-smelting site recorded in field survey and excavation - A Romano British industrial settlement dating from the late 1st to the mid 3rd century was excavated at Bletchley's refuse tip, formerly a gravel pit. The remains of two timber framed buildings, two storage/refuse pits and a gully were found. Part of a 3rd century inhumation was also located.

Protected Status/Designation

Archaeological Notification Area: Roman iron-working industrial site (DBC8837)

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Type and Period (1)

BLOOMERY? (1st Century Roman to 3rd Century - 43 AD to 299 AD)

Description

INDUSTRIAL SITE, OCCUPIED LATE C1-MID C3 AD. AT ONE STAGE USED FOR IRON SMELTING (B3).
SITE AREA ONCE A GRAVEL PIT, THEN A REFUSE TIP. ROMAN FEATURES FOUND WHILE BULLDOZING TOPSOIL OVER TIP; RESCUE EXCAV FOLLOWED (B4).
NGR TO SITE, CONFIRMED BY FIELD INVESTIGATION; NGR GIVEN IN B1-3 IS WRONG (B5).

Late 1st to mid 3rd c RB industrial site excavated at Bletchley's refuse tip, formerly a gravel pit, at Salden Wood (SP 83193103) in 1964. The remains consisted of at least two timber framed buildings, a storage pit 9' 6" in diameter later used as a rubbish pit and a large tapering ditch 33' long ending in a gully leading to another oval pit 7' x 3' 6". This pit was full of a sooty silted substance containing a few fragments of metallic slag. Part of a human skeleton was found with fragments of 3rd c pottery in the gravefill; no coins were found on the site, although in the next field a few Ro coins (including one mid 3rd c) have been found. Other skeletons were found in the gravel pit about 1900. It is considered that this site may have been associated with some form of metal working, but no signs of a furnace have been found; this may have been due to the early gravel workings or the bulldozer (B1).
R Griffiths is now resident in Shropshire, but H Pengelly, (b7) a local archaeologist, who has knowledge of the site states the excavation was centred on the S side of the former pit at SP 8322 3100. This concurs with Griffiths siting on the Bradwell Abbey Field Centre 6", and shows the grid reference of the excavation report in Record of Bucks (b8) to be incorrect. The extent of the finds is shown pecked on OS 6", but Mr Pengelly has no knowledge of "finds of Ro coins in the next field". SP 83 SW 28 possibly refers to one of these coins. The "few pieces of slag" would not appear to justify the classification of this as an industrial site (B6).

This record includes National Record of the Historic Environment Information provided by Historic England on 4 June 2025 licensed under the Open Government Licence.

Sources (9)

<1>SBC13411 Article in serial: RECS OF BUCKS 1964 17 P305.
<2>SBC16901 Article in serial: 1967. WOLVERTON & DISTRICT ARCH SOC NEWSLETTER 11 PP15, 25-6 (NOTED UNDER NEWTON LONGVILLE). No 11.
<3>SBC13538 Article in serial: RECS OF BUCKS 1973 19 PP326-7 (SITE NOTED UNDER NE WTON LONGVILLE).
<4>SBC1237 Unpublished document: BCM ACCESSIONS REGISTER/MR R W GRIFFITHS; HIS REPORT, NOTES &C ON CAS FILE).
<5>SBC10549 Unpublished document: Ordnance Survey Field Investigator. 1975. OS FIELD INVESTIGATION JAN 1975 (RECORD NO SP 83 S W 15; OS CARD NOT RETAINED).
<6>SBC28971 Verbal communication: J R Linge. 1974. Field Investigators Comments - F1 JRL 20-DEC-74.
<7>SBC29295 Verbal communication: H Pengelly. Comments from H Pengelly about excavation location.
<8>SBC5878 Article in serial: Richard Griffiths and Josie Southernwood. 1973. 'ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTES FROM NEWTON LONGVILLE,1964-72', IN RECORDS OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE 19, Part 3, P317-328. Vol 19, part 3. p3326.
<9>SBC27441 Digital archive: Historic England. National Record of the Historic Environment (NRHE). Insert 1999.

Location

Grid reference	SP 83220 31000 (point)
Civil Parish	MURSLEY, Aylesbury Vale, Buckinghamshire