Papers by Philip Nicholas Wood
Evidence for pre-Roman Iron Age through to post-Roman activity was revealed during a major progra... more Evidence for pre-Roman Iron Age through to post-Roman activity was revealed during a major programme of archaeological investigation undertaken as an integral part of the construction scheme to widen the A1 trunk road between Dishforth and Leeming Bar in North Yorkshire. Significant archaeological remains were encountered at Healam Bridge, a scheduled Roman settlement located on Dere Street Roman road, midway between the walled towns of Isuriam Brigantum and Cataractonium (the modern villages of Aldborough and Catterick). This two-volume set presents the results and discussion of the excavations and analysis of the environmental and human remains (Volume 1), and the analysis of the artefactual assemblages (Volume 2). Evidence from Healam Bridge indicates activity dating from the early 2nd century AD into the Anglo-Saxon period. The location of the site astride the main Roman route to the north of England and Scotland was reflected in the wide range of pottery and other finds recovered, and activities such as iron-smithing are likely to have served the passing trade as much as the local community. The extensive animal bone assemblage suggested that horse, possibly mule, breeding was a significant activity at Healam Bridge throughout the Roman period. This archive presents appendices B-I and supplementary material resulting from the programme of archaeological works undertaken during the construction scheme to widen the A1 trunk road between Dishforth and Leeming Bar in North Yorkshire. The Iron Age to early medieval evidence from Healam Bridge, along with other evidence for Roman activity along the route is published in two volumes as: Ambrey, C., Fell, D., Fraser, R., Ross, S., Speed, G., and Wood, P. N. (2017) A Roman Roadside Settlement at Healam Bridge. The Iron Age to early medieval evidence. Volume 1: Archaeological narrative, environmental evidence, and human remains. Northern Archaeological Associates Monograph Series Volume 3. Barnard Castle: Northern Archaeological Associates. Ambrey, C., Fell, D., Fraser, R., Ross, S., Speed, G., and Wood, P. N. (2017) A Roman Roadside Settlement at Healam Bridge. The Iron Age to early medieval evidence. Volume 2: Artefacts. Northern Archaeological Associates Monograph Series Volume 3. Barnard Castle: Northern Archaeological Associates. This digital archive includes appendices referenced within the two volumes: Volume 1: title page, acknowledgements, and summary Volume 2: title page, acknowledgements, and summary Appendix B: Table 98 Field Numbers and Chainage Concordance Appendix C: Environmental Remains by Context Appendix D: Environmental Remains Tables 29 to 94 Appendix E: Measurement Archive of Vertebrate Remains Appendix F: Environmental Remains Raw Data, Healam Bridge Appendix G: Environmental Remains Raw Data, Non-Healam Bridge Appendix H: Pottery raw data and supplementary data to support figures in Volume 2 of the publication Appendix I: Key to Coin Catalogue and Table 128 Coin Catalogue The finds, paper, and full digital archive is hosted by the Yorkshire Museum, York Museums Trust. The accession number is YORYM : 2013.78
Medieval Cross Slabs from Trondheim, Norway, 2019
A short article in the Church Monuments Society's newsletter, about 'English-looking' medieval gr... more A short article in the Church Monuments Society's newsletter, about 'English-looking' medieval grave slabs found in Trondheim, Norway. The most recent finds were from the excavation of St Clement's Church (Klemenskirken) in 2016-7 by NIKU (Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research).
(client report), 2011
This paper is part of a client report on an excavation of part of Pollard's Mill, a cotton spinni... more This paper is part of a client report on an excavation of part of Pollard's Mill, a cotton spinning and weaving mill, and the Soho Ironworks, both important factories founded in the early 19th century. Both were important for their respective industries and typified the industrial development of Manchester at this time.
Durham Archaeological Journal 20, 2015
An excavation report on a late Iron Age or Roman-period settlement in The Tees valley, north east... more An excavation report on a late Iron Age or Roman-period settlement in The Tees valley, north east England, published in Durham Archaeological Journal. The work was carried out by NAA Ltd.
What may have been an initially unenclosed settlement was altered to include several enclosures and structures.
This report presents the results of excavation along a section of the Scarborough Integrated Tran... more This report presents the results of excavation along a section of the Scarborough Integrated Transport Scheme, in 2007. Part of the medieval village of Osgodby was found, comprising enclosures, buildings and a sunken roadway, dating to between the late 12th and early 15th centuries. The excavation showed that the settlement was considerably larger than previously thought, with intensive occupation extending west of the perceived medieval core. Although not an academic paper, it is unlikely to be published and the results were important both for the history of Osgodby and the study of deserted medieval settlements.
Industrial Archaeology Review, 2010
Archaeologia Aeliana, 2009
CBA Archaeology in Wales, 2009
Medieval Archaeology, 2005
Archaeologia Aeliana, 1999
Books by Philip Nicholas Wood
Wood, P. N. and Griffiths, D. G. 2022. Excavations at Chester. Roman land division and probable villa in the hinterland of Deva. Excavation at Saighton Army Camp, Huntington. , 2022
Wood, P. N. and Griffiths, D. G. 2022. Excavations at Chester. Roman land division and probable v... more Wood, P. N. and Griffiths, D. G. 2022. Excavations at Chester. Roman land division and probable villa in the hinterland of Deva. Excavation at Saighton Army Camp, Huntington. Archaeopress Roman Archaeology 93. Oxford: Archaeopress Publishing Limited.
Excavations at Chester. Roman Land Division and a Probable Villa in the Hinterland of Deva. Archaeopress Roman Archaeology 93., 2022
This is the publication from my final project in Britain. It is published by Archaeopress; the eB... more This is the publication from my final project in Britain. It is published by Archaeopress; the eBook version is open access and the print version can be bought from them. I was involved in the final phase of a long-running project to develop a former British Army training camp for housing. The excavated remains comprised a large field system and part of a settlement, lying 3km south-east of Chester, the Roman fortress of Deva.
The Roman field system covered an area of over 20 hectares and was very regular in plan. The excavated part of the settlement appeared to be at the edge of a high-status site. Building stone, two small altars, a hypocaust pillar and part of a statue had been dumped in the excavated area, and it is proposed that this high-status settlement was a villa. The villa and field-system are likely to have lain within the area directly controlled by the legion at Deva, and the possible origins for both the field system and settlement are discussed.
NAA Monograph Series Volume 3, 2017
Upgrading of the A1 road in North Yorkshire to motorway status has provided a significant opportu... more Upgrading of the A1 road in North Yorkshire to motorway status has provided a significant opportunity
to study a section of this historic and nationally important route. The scheme, which ran from the Dishforth
Interchange to Leeming Bar near Bedale, covered a distance of 22km through the Vale of Mowbray, a low lying
area of rich agricultural land occupying an interfluve ridge between the River Swale and the River Ure.
The road has been in existence for almost 2000 years, acting variously as a focus for travel, settlement, and
as a major boundary in the landscape. During the Roman period, it formed one of the principal north-south
routes in the north of the province, linking two of the relatively few urban centres; Isurium at Aldborough and
Cataractonium at Catterick. In the medieval period, it formed part of the route between London and Carlisle, and
as such it remained one of the most prominent features of the area. Its importance increased in the post-medieval
period and its early designation as a turnpike and use as a postal road (the Great North Road) resulted in the
development of large farms and inns along the roadside.
The Roman road, now widely known by its late Anglo-Saxon name of Dere Street, may have formalised a
route with prehistoric origins. A combination of environmental evidence from peat cores and excavated Iron Age
remains at points along the route provided evidence of widespread tree clearance, extensive field systems, and
trackways indicating that this was a populated and organised landscape prior to its annexation by the Romans in
the later 1st century AD.
The most significant site encountered was the Roman settlement at Healam Bridge, a site which was poorly
understood until archaeological work connected to the road scheme was undertaken. The work has shown this
site to have been a major roadside settlement of considerable complexity. It lay strategically between two Roman
towns and would have been one of the largest settlements in Roman North Yorkshire, an area of few urban or
semi-urban communities.
The Healam Bridge settlement covered an area of at least 18ha, along nearly a kilometre of the Roman road.
The excavation investigated 15% of the known site, making it one of the most extensively excavated roadside
settlements in the north of Roman Britain. The route of the motorway was positioned to avoid the known core
of the settlement, but the excavation nevertheless examined a substantial transect of the site. Importantly, on the
slopes beside the nearby Healam Beck, a well-preserved, deep sequence of partially waterlogged deposits were
preserved, containing multiple phases of building and showing episodes of land reclamation and flood defence.
The excavated evidence suggests that the settlement at Healam Bridge was probably a Hadrianic foundation,
although there was evidence that Dere Street had been constructed through this area by the late 1st century AD.
The absence of a significant assemblage of military equipment linked to the evidence for a highly Romanised
diet and tableware assemblage suggests that the site was initially occupied by people from elsewhere in England
or from further afield, but not by the Roman army. After an apparent contraction during the 3rd century, the
settlement saw renewed activity during the 4th century, including evidence for intensive crop processing. Evidence
for occupation continued into the 5th century AD.
The settlement contained and was surrounded by substantial areas of grazing land. There is widespread
evidence that equids were present in significant numbers, and it is suggested that mules were kept and possibly
bred here. The supply of these animals represents an important part of the settlement’s economy, perhaps a
dominant one, and it is possible that the settlement was established deliberately to supply transport for the army
and other branches of the government. The site’s location, one day’s travel between the two Roman towns, would
also have made it a natural market centre.
Healam Bridge, although by far the largest, was not the sole Roman period site encountered. Parts of two other
Roman-period settlements were also found in the southern part of the scheme and evidence for Dere Street itself
was also investigated in several locations where it was found to be preserved beneath the former course of the
Great North Road.
NAA Monograph Series Volume 3, 2017
Upgrading of the A1 road in North Yorkshire to motorway status has provided a significant opportu... more Upgrading of the A1 road in North Yorkshire to motorway status has provided a significant opportunity to study a section of this historic and nationally important route. The scheme, which ran from the Dishforth
Interchange to Leeming Bar near Bedale, covered a distance of 22km through the Vale of Mowbray, a low lying area of rich agricultural land occupying an interfluve ridge between the River Swale and the River Ure.
The road has been in existence for almost 2000 years, acting variously as a focus for travel, settlement, and as a major boundary in the landscape. During the Roman period, it formed one of the principal north-south routes in the north of the province, linking two of the relatively few urban centres; Isurium at Aldborough and Cataractonium at Catterick. In the medieval period, it formed part of the route between London and Carlisle, and as such it remained one of the most prominent features of the area. Its importance increased in the post-medieval
period and its early designation as a turnpike and use as a postal road (the Great North Road) resulted in the development of large farms and inns along the roadside.
The Roman road, now widely known by its late Anglo-Saxon name of Dere Street, may have formalised a route with prehistoric origins. A combination of environmental evidence from peat cores and excavated Iron Age remains at points along the route provided evidence of widespread tree clearance, extensive field systems, and trackways indicating that this was a populated and organised landscape prior to its annexation by the Romans in the later 1st century AD.
The most significant site encountered was the Roman settlement at Healam Bridge, a site which was poorly understood until archaeological work connected to the road scheme was undertaken. The work has shown this site to have been a major roadside settlement of considerable complexity. It lay strategically between two Roman towns and would have been one of the largest settlements in Roman North Yorkshire, an area of few urban or semi-urban communities.
The Healam Bridge settlement covered an area of at least 18ha, along nearly a kilometre of the Roman road. The excavation investigated 15% of the known site, making it one of the most extensively excavated roadside settlements in the north of Roman Britain. The route of the motorway was positioned to avoid the known core of the settlement, but the excavation nevertheless examined a substantial transect of the site. Importantly, on the slopes beside the nearby Healam Beck, a well preserved, deep sequence of partially waterlogged deposits were preserved, containing multiple phases of building and showing episodes of land reclamation and flood defence.
The excavated evidence suggests that the settlement at Healam Bridge was probably a Hadrianic foundation, although there was evidence that Dere Street had been constructed through this area by the late 1st century AD.
The absence of a significant assemblage of military equipment linked to the evidence for a highly Romanised diet and tableware assemblage suggests that the site was initially occupied by people from elsewhere in England or from further afield, but not by the Roman army. After an apparent contraction during the 3rd century, the settlement saw renewed activity during the 4th century, including evidence for intensive crop processing. Evidence for occupation continued into the 5th century AD.
The settlement contained and was surrounded by substantial areas of grazing land. There is widespread evidence that equids were present in significant numbers, and it is suggested that mules were kept and possibly bred here. The supply of these animals represents an important part of the settlement’s economy, perhaps a dominant one, and it is possible that the settlement was established deliberately to supply transport for the army and other branches of the government. The site’s location, one day’s travel between the two Roman towns, would also have made it a natural market centre.
Healam Bridge, although by far the largest, was not the sole Roman period site encountered. Parts of two other Roman-period settlements were also found in the southern part of the scheme and evidence for Dere Street itself was also investigated in several locations where it was found to be preserved beneath the former course of the
Great North Road.
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Papers by Philip Nicholas Wood
What may have been an initially unenclosed settlement was altered to include several enclosures and structures.
Books by Philip Nicholas Wood
The Roman field system covered an area of over 20 hectares and was very regular in plan. The excavated part of the settlement appeared to be at the edge of a high-status site. Building stone, two small altars, a hypocaust pillar and part of a statue had been dumped in the excavated area, and it is proposed that this high-status settlement was a villa. The villa and field-system are likely to have lain within the area directly controlled by the legion at Deva, and the possible origins for both the field system and settlement are discussed.
to study a section of this historic and nationally important route. The scheme, which ran from the Dishforth
Interchange to Leeming Bar near Bedale, covered a distance of 22km through the Vale of Mowbray, a low lying
area of rich agricultural land occupying an interfluve ridge between the River Swale and the River Ure.
The road has been in existence for almost 2000 years, acting variously as a focus for travel, settlement, and
as a major boundary in the landscape. During the Roman period, it formed one of the principal north-south
routes in the north of the province, linking two of the relatively few urban centres; Isurium at Aldborough and
Cataractonium at Catterick. In the medieval period, it formed part of the route between London and Carlisle, and
as such it remained one of the most prominent features of the area. Its importance increased in the post-medieval
period and its early designation as a turnpike and use as a postal road (the Great North Road) resulted in the
development of large farms and inns along the roadside.
The Roman road, now widely known by its late Anglo-Saxon name of Dere Street, may have formalised a
route with prehistoric origins. A combination of environmental evidence from peat cores and excavated Iron Age
remains at points along the route provided evidence of widespread tree clearance, extensive field systems, and
trackways indicating that this was a populated and organised landscape prior to its annexation by the Romans in
the later 1st century AD.
The most significant site encountered was the Roman settlement at Healam Bridge, a site which was poorly
understood until archaeological work connected to the road scheme was undertaken. The work has shown this
site to have been a major roadside settlement of considerable complexity. It lay strategically between two Roman
towns and would have been one of the largest settlements in Roman North Yorkshire, an area of few urban or
semi-urban communities.
The Healam Bridge settlement covered an area of at least 18ha, along nearly a kilometre of the Roman road.
The excavation investigated 15% of the known site, making it one of the most extensively excavated roadside
settlements in the north of Roman Britain. The route of the motorway was positioned to avoid the known core
of the settlement, but the excavation nevertheless examined a substantial transect of the site. Importantly, on the
slopes beside the nearby Healam Beck, a well-preserved, deep sequence of partially waterlogged deposits were
preserved, containing multiple phases of building and showing episodes of land reclamation and flood defence.
The excavated evidence suggests that the settlement at Healam Bridge was probably a Hadrianic foundation,
although there was evidence that Dere Street had been constructed through this area by the late 1st century AD.
The absence of a significant assemblage of military equipment linked to the evidence for a highly Romanised
diet and tableware assemblage suggests that the site was initially occupied by people from elsewhere in England
or from further afield, but not by the Roman army. After an apparent contraction during the 3rd century, the
settlement saw renewed activity during the 4th century, including evidence for intensive crop processing. Evidence
for occupation continued into the 5th century AD.
The settlement contained and was surrounded by substantial areas of grazing land. There is widespread
evidence that equids were present in significant numbers, and it is suggested that mules were kept and possibly
bred here. The supply of these animals represents an important part of the settlement’s economy, perhaps a
dominant one, and it is possible that the settlement was established deliberately to supply transport for the army
and other branches of the government. The site’s location, one day’s travel between the two Roman towns, would
also have made it a natural market centre.
Healam Bridge, although by far the largest, was not the sole Roman period site encountered. Parts of two other
Roman-period settlements were also found in the southern part of the scheme and evidence for Dere Street itself
was also investigated in several locations where it was found to be preserved beneath the former course of the
Great North Road.
Interchange to Leeming Bar near Bedale, covered a distance of 22km through the Vale of Mowbray, a low lying area of rich agricultural land occupying an interfluve ridge between the River Swale and the River Ure.
The road has been in existence for almost 2000 years, acting variously as a focus for travel, settlement, and as a major boundary in the landscape. During the Roman period, it formed one of the principal north-south routes in the north of the province, linking two of the relatively few urban centres; Isurium at Aldborough and Cataractonium at Catterick. In the medieval period, it formed part of the route between London and Carlisle, and as such it remained one of the most prominent features of the area. Its importance increased in the post-medieval
period and its early designation as a turnpike and use as a postal road (the Great North Road) resulted in the development of large farms and inns along the roadside.
The Roman road, now widely known by its late Anglo-Saxon name of Dere Street, may have formalised a route with prehistoric origins. A combination of environmental evidence from peat cores and excavated Iron Age remains at points along the route provided evidence of widespread tree clearance, extensive field systems, and trackways indicating that this was a populated and organised landscape prior to its annexation by the Romans in the later 1st century AD.
The most significant site encountered was the Roman settlement at Healam Bridge, a site which was poorly understood until archaeological work connected to the road scheme was undertaken. The work has shown this site to have been a major roadside settlement of considerable complexity. It lay strategically between two Roman towns and would have been one of the largest settlements in Roman North Yorkshire, an area of few urban or semi-urban communities.
The Healam Bridge settlement covered an area of at least 18ha, along nearly a kilometre of the Roman road. The excavation investigated 15% of the known site, making it one of the most extensively excavated roadside settlements in the north of Roman Britain. The route of the motorway was positioned to avoid the known core of the settlement, but the excavation nevertheless examined a substantial transect of the site. Importantly, on the slopes beside the nearby Healam Beck, a well preserved, deep sequence of partially waterlogged deposits were preserved, containing multiple phases of building and showing episodes of land reclamation and flood defence.
The excavated evidence suggests that the settlement at Healam Bridge was probably a Hadrianic foundation, although there was evidence that Dere Street had been constructed through this area by the late 1st century AD.
The absence of a significant assemblage of military equipment linked to the evidence for a highly Romanised diet and tableware assemblage suggests that the site was initially occupied by people from elsewhere in England or from further afield, but not by the Roman army. After an apparent contraction during the 3rd century, the settlement saw renewed activity during the 4th century, including evidence for intensive crop processing. Evidence for occupation continued into the 5th century AD.
The settlement contained and was surrounded by substantial areas of grazing land. There is widespread evidence that equids were present in significant numbers, and it is suggested that mules were kept and possibly bred here. The supply of these animals represents an important part of the settlement’s economy, perhaps a dominant one, and it is possible that the settlement was established deliberately to supply transport for the army and other branches of the government. The site’s location, one day’s travel between the two Roman towns, would also have made it a natural market centre.
Healam Bridge, although by far the largest, was not the sole Roman period site encountered. Parts of two other Roman-period settlements were also found in the southern part of the scheme and evidence for Dere Street itself was also investigated in several locations where it was found to be preserved beneath the former course of the
Great North Road.
What may have been an initially unenclosed settlement was altered to include several enclosures and structures.
The Roman field system covered an area of over 20 hectares and was very regular in plan. The excavated part of the settlement appeared to be at the edge of a high-status site. Building stone, two small altars, a hypocaust pillar and part of a statue had been dumped in the excavated area, and it is proposed that this high-status settlement was a villa. The villa and field-system are likely to have lain within the area directly controlled by the legion at Deva, and the possible origins for both the field system and settlement are discussed.
to study a section of this historic and nationally important route. The scheme, which ran from the Dishforth
Interchange to Leeming Bar near Bedale, covered a distance of 22km through the Vale of Mowbray, a low lying
area of rich agricultural land occupying an interfluve ridge between the River Swale and the River Ure.
The road has been in existence for almost 2000 years, acting variously as a focus for travel, settlement, and
as a major boundary in the landscape. During the Roman period, it formed one of the principal north-south
routes in the north of the province, linking two of the relatively few urban centres; Isurium at Aldborough and
Cataractonium at Catterick. In the medieval period, it formed part of the route between London and Carlisle, and
as such it remained one of the most prominent features of the area. Its importance increased in the post-medieval
period and its early designation as a turnpike and use as a postal road (the Great North Road) resulted in the
development of large farms and inns along the roadside.
The Roman road, now widely known by its late Anglo-Saxon name of Dere Street, may have formalised a
route with prehistoric origins. A combination of environmental evidence from peat cores and excavated Iron Age
remains at points along the route provided evidence of widespread tree clearance, extensive field systems, and
trackways indicating that this was a populated and organised landscape prior to its annexation by the Romans in
the later 1st century AD.
The most significant site encountered was the Roman settlement at Healam Bridge, a site which was poorly
understood until archaeological work connected to the road scheme was undertaken. The work has shown this
site to have been a major roadside settlement of considerable complexity. It lay strategically between two Roman
towns and would have been one of the largest settlements in Roman North Yorkshire, an area of few urban or
semi-urban communities.
The Healam Bridge settlement covered an area of at least 18ha, along nearly a kilometre of the Roman road.
The excavation investigated 15% of the known site, making it one of the most extensively excavated roadside
settlements in the north of Roman Britain. The route of the motorway was positioned to avoid the known core
of the settlement, but the excavation nevertheless examined a substantial transect of the site. Importantly, on the
slopes beside the nearby Healam Beck, a well-preserved, deep sequence of partially waterlogged deposits were
preserved, containing multiple phases of building and showing episodes of land reclamation and flood defence.
The excavated evidence suggests that the settlement at Healam Bridge was probably a Hadrianic foundation,
although there was evidence that Dere Street had been constructed through this area by the late 1st century AD.
The absence of a significant assemblage of military equipment linked to the evidence for a highly Romanised
diet and tableware assemblage suggests that the site was initially occupied by people from elsewhere in England
or from further afield, but not by the Roman army. After an apparent contraction during the 3rd century, the
settlement saw renewed activity during the 4th century, including evidence for intensive crop processing. Evidence
for occupation continued into the 5th century AD.
The settlement contained and was surrounded by substantial areas of grazing land. There is widespread
evidence that equids were present in significant numbers, and it is suggested that mules were kept and possibly
bred here. The supply of these animals represents an important part of the settlement’s economy, perhaps a
dominant one, and it is possible that the settlement was established deliberately to supply transport for the army
and other branches of the government. The site’s location, one day’s travel between the two Roman towns, would
also have made it a natural market centre.
Healam Bridge, although by far the largest, was not the sole Roman period site encountered. Parts of two other
Roman-period settlements were also found in the southern part of the scheme and evidence for Dere Street itself
was also investigated in several locations where it was found to be preserved beneath the former course of the
Great North Road.
Interchange to Leeming Bar near Bedale, covered a distance of 22km through the Vale of Mowbray, a low lying area of rich agricultural land occupying an interfluve ridge between the River Swale and the River Ure.
The road has been in existence for almost 2000 years, acting variously as a focus for travel, settlement, and as a major boundary in the landscape. During the Roman period, it formed one of the principal north-south routes in the north of the province, linking two of the relatively few urban centres; Isurium at Aldborough and Cataractonium at Catterick. In the medieval period, it formed part of the route between London and Carlisle, and as such it remained one of the most prominent features of the area. Its importance increased in the post-medieval
period and its early designation as a turnpike and use as a postal road (the Great North Road) resulted in the development of large farms and inns along the roadside.
The Roman road, now widely known by its late Anglo-Saxon name of Dere Street, may have formalised a route with prehistoric origins. A combination of environmental evidence from peat cores and excavated Iron Age remains at points along the route provided evidence of widespread tree clearance, extensive field systems, and trackways indicating that this was a populated and organised landscape prior to its annexation by the Romans in the later 1st century AD.
The most significant site encountered was the Roman settlement at Healam Bridge, a site which was poorly understood until archaeological work connected to the road scheme was undertaken. The work has shown this site to have been a major roadside settlement of considerable complexity. It lay strategically between two Roman towns and would have been one of the largest settlements in Roman North Yorkshire, an area of few urban or semi-urban communities.
The Healam Bridge settlement covered an area of at least 18ha, along nearly a kilometre of the Roman road. The excavation investigated 15% of the known site, making it one of the most extensively excavated roadside settlements in the north of Roman Britain. The route of the motorway was positioned to avoid the known core of the settlement, but the excavation nevertheless examined a substantial transect of the site. Importantly, on the slopes beside the nearby Healam Beck, a well preserved, deep sequence of partially waterlogged deposits were preserved, containing multiple phases of building and showing episodes of land reclamation and flood defence.
The excavated evidence suggests that the settlement at Healam Bridge was probably a Hadrianic foundation, although there was evidence that Dere Street had been constructed through this area by the late 1st century AD.
The absence of a significant assemblage of military equipment linked to the evidence for a highly Romanised diet and tableware assemblage suggests that the site was initially occupied by people from elsewhere in England or from further afield, but not by the Roman army. After an apparent contraction during the 3rd century, the settlement saw renewed activity during the 4th century, including evidence for intensive crop processing. Evidence for occupation continued into the 5th century AD.
The settlement contained and was surrounded by substantial areas of grazing land. There is widespread evidence that equids were present in significant numbers, and it is suggested that mules were kept and possibly bred here. The supply of these animals represents an important part of the settlement’s economy, perhaps a dominant one, and it is possible that the settlement was established deliberately to supply transport for the army and other branches of the government. The site’s location, one day’s travel between the two Roman towns, would also have made it a natural market centre.
Healam Bridge, although by far the largest, was not the sole Roman period site encountered. Parts of two other Roman-period settlements were also found in the southern part of the scheme and evidence for Dere Street itself was also investigated in several locations where it was found to be preserved beneath the former course of the
Great North Road.