New Copse Excavation

A settlement and Roman building debris in Brockenhurst

For the past few years, we have been investigating a Roman site on the fringes of Brockenhurst. Excavations 2017-24 revealed features and material culture associated with a Roman settlement site, with evidence of a possible villa-type building, probably not on this site itself, but nearby. Earthwork survey in 2007, supplemented by more recent evaluation of LiDAR imagery, showed that an extensive series of sub-rectangular enclosures had been established close to the Lymington River, and had an associated ‘Celtic’ field system on higher ground to the east. In Phase A, the earthwork enclosure bank selected for exploratory excavation dated to the later 1st/2nd century AD, according to pottery finds.

An early Roman round-house, oven and evidence of deliberate deposition of structured groups of objects were excavated on the east side of the enclosure in 2022-23. By the 2nd/3rd century, in Phase B, dumping of material behind the earthwork bank indicated debris from a Roman building, with roof tiles, flue tiles and tesserae. A second excavation area revealed more positive evidence of Roman-style buildings, including a simple two-roomed timber-framed structure with one floor having red tesserae in position, and the other room of beaten earth. Walling in the form of wooden beams and unshaped stone in beam-slots, and rounded cobbles, probably formed the base of cob-walls or similar non-stone and mortar formation were located during the 2019-22 excavation seasons. These structures are too simple to be a typical Roman villa, despite the presence of box-flue tiles, circular column tiles and large numbers of tesserae.

Evidence for production of tesserae was found, and it is possible that the site was involved in the recycling and production of Roman building materials in the mid-Roman period. It is, however, likely that the findings can be linked to the presence of a Roman villa or similar building nearby in the Brockenhurst area. Finally, in Phase C, dumping and infilling of the enclosure ditches included typical late 3rd/4th century New Forest indented and bag beakers, and suggests that the site was running down in the late Roman period, with no evidence of subsequent occupation.

Excavations in 2024 – Trenches 13, 14 and 15

Digging took place for ten days during the August Bank Holiday period, and had the aim of exploring a rectangular enclosure on the eastern side of the main enclosure. This area had been surveyed by magnetometry in 2023 and early 2024, so the three trenches were positioned to examine anomalies in the geophysical plots. Trench 13 was in an area of disturbance , geophysically speaking, and proved to be the most fruitful in terms of findings. Building debris consisting of tile fragments, stones and some tesserae was scattered across the upper level of the trench, together with pieces of quernstone and 4th-century New Forest colour-coated pottery (Phase C). There is very likely to have been a Roman building in or near this trench, and excavation will continue there in 2025.

Trench 14 was positioned over a right-angled geophysical anomaly, and was duly found to be a ditch/pit with distinct sides and a shallow sloping profile. There was a small amount of mid to late Roman pottery (Phase C). The feature was inside the enclosure, and must have been part of the structures or sub-enclosures within it, but the exact purpose of this ditch or pit remains unknown.

Trench 13, 2024

Trench 15 had a more obvious purpose, in that it was across a visible bank and ditch/hollow way that formed the northern boundary of the rectangular enclosure. The aim was to see its original profile and to obtain dating evidence is possible. The bank was probably a simple stack of material, with pebbles as a form of structural support. It probably resembled the ‘Cornish hedge’ type of boundary seen across many regions of southern Britain. The shallow hollow way visible on the ground proved to be a deeper ditch-like feature, with evidence of a recut during the Roman period (Phase B/C). The original ditch cut is undated, but may be late Iron Age or very early in the Roman period (Phase A), when we estimate that the site as a whole first came into existence.

Excavations in 2023 – Trench 12

The excavations in 2023 took place as usual during the end of August Bank Holiday period, but we extended the schedule to just under two weeks. This was to give enough time to complete what we anticipated could be a complex excavation sequence in Trench 12 and to continue investigating the building with the tessellated floor in another trench. The weather was relatively good during the dig, so we completed what we set out to do, and also carried out magnetometry survey to investigate areas outside the main enclosure.

The trench had enough stratigraphy to let us divide it into two phases. The earlier one (Phase A) was dominated by the gully of a round-house, c. 8 m in diameter. Its gully contained a number of iron nails, so it may be presumed that the superstructure incorporated wooden elements that were nailed together. The gully itself may have been part of the building, i.e. a ring sill beam, rather than a drip gully to clear water from around it. The gully was traced in its north-western sector, with a gap on the western side near the large pottery vessel positioned inside the circuit of the gully (see below). The gap may have been a secondary entrance to the building, as entrances are normally on the eastern side. Unfortunately, we were not able to investigate the eastern sector of the building, due to the trench position and a large fallen tree root plate.

Trench 14, 2024

Inside the round-house on the western side was a Roman amphora or large flagon used as a storage jar, perhaps for water. It had been dug into the floor in such a way as to entirely fill the ground into which it was dug, there being no trace of a cut for placing the vessel. The top of the pot had been destroyed, probably by activity associated with the next phase, or perhaps because its usage needed an open vessel without its original upper parts.

Apart from the gully and embedded pot, the other feature from this period was a small hearth or oven about 1 m to the north-west of the round-house. It was filled with burnt material, but no obvious traces of its purpose were visible. It may have been for cooking. This phase of activity in Trench 12 was accompanied by a good assemblage of early Roman pottery, including some samian and other fine wares, dating to the later part of the first century AD. 

Overlying it was a spread of debris marking the end of use of the round-house, and a change in the function of this part of the site (Phase B). Large numbers of tesserae and other building materials indicate that the reworking of ceramic building material seen in other trenches also took place here. In fact, clear evidence of breakage of tegulae, and chiselling to remove their flanges was found. There were a couple of pieces of worked shale from this phase, one of which had carved decoration, and was likely to have been part of a piece of furniture. This activity was probably taking place during the mid-Roman period, i.e. second and third centuries AD.

Trench 15, 2024

Little New Forest colour-coated ware of the fourth century was found in Trench 12, and it is likely that this area of the site was in decline by the late Roman period (Phase C). Elsewhere on the site as a whole, New Forest Late Roman pottery has been found, however, especially in Trench 13 (2024) and Trench 1 (2017/18), so it looks as though the focus of activity was shifting across the site through time.

Further information

As well as yearly summaries in the New Forest History and Archaeology Group’s Annual Report, please see the following: