Hibaldstow Roman Settlement

Minor Settlement

The site of a Romano-British settlement straddling Ermine Street revealed by excavation between 1975-9. Possible Iron Age occupation and alleged Anglian pottery. Occupation of the settlement would seem to begin as early as the late 1st century – the date of the earliest property boundaries and lasts through to the 3rd and 4th centuries. Buildings are rectangular in plan and may have combined agricultural and industrial usage with domestic accommodation. Building remains to the west of the road are confined to an approximately 50m wide strip, demarcated by a ditch which runs parallel with the road.

Of particular interest is a building sequence in which a rectangular aisled-building was replaced by a winged-corridor house – possibly a villa.  It comprised a veranda or corridor fronting a range of three equal-sized rooms, with a single projecting corner room at either end. However, it was smaller than either its predecessor or the other strip buildings excavated.

The site was known to early travellers, and the walls of buildings were still visible in the 18th century although whether these belonged to the Roman settlement one cannot now be sure. Nothing has been revealed by air photography. Knowledge of the settlement’s extent is derived from the incidence of surface finds and a geophysical survey. It would seem that the settlement extended for at least 750m along both sides of Ermine Street where it crosses the Staniwells spring valley.

The construction of Ermine street seems to have dammed the Staniwells spring, creating a pond behind in the valley bottom. This was subsequently drained, but may account for the alignment of some of the buildings other than perpendicular to the road. It contained pottery of the second half of the 1st century whilst environmental samples suggest the contemporary landscape was open grassland. Five inhumation burials discovered towards the rear of the enclosure, however, may form part of a cemetery, and perhaps indicate a change in land use.

References for Hibaldstow

Historical Map and Guide – Roman Britain by the Ordnance Survey (3rd, 4th & 5th eds., 1956, 1994 & 2001).

Map References for Hibaldstow

NGRef: SE9603 OSMap: LR112

Roman Roads near Hibaldstow

Ermine Street: N (12) to Winteringham (Humberside) Ermine Street: S (11) to Owmby (Lincolnshire) N (10) to Winterton

Sites near Hibaldstow Roman Settlement