• Introduction
• Overview
• Downloads
• Query
• Map
• Metadata
• Usage Statistics

Data copyright © University of Reading unless otherwise stated

This work is licensed under the ADS Terms of Use and Access.

Primary contact

Prof Michael Fulford
Professor of Archaeology
School of Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Science
University of Reading
Whiteknights
PO Box 218
Reading
RG6 6AA
England
Tel: 0118 3788048

Send e-mail enquiry

Resource identifiers

• ADS Collection: 1352
• DOI:https://doi.org/10.5284/1030449
• How to cite using this DOI

Swinford Wind Farm (Leicestershire)

The map above shows the site in its geographical and thematic context, to view all other sites from the database in this view select 'All sites' from the list of layers.

Unpublished Sources

Hyam, A. (2010) An Archaeological Field Evaluation at Swinford Wind Farm, Leicestershire.. Leicester: University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS). Report No. 2010-195 https://doi.org/10.5284/1023684

Morris, M. (2012) An Archaeological Excavation in advance of Swinford Windfarm, near Lutterworth, Leicestershire. Leicester: University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS). ULAS report 2011-128 https://doi.org/10.5284/1022233

Database ID	23048
Site Type (Major)	Rural settlement
Site Type (Minor)	farm
Region	Central Belt
County	Leicestershire
Summary	A site on a gently rising plateau lying on a south-west to north-east orientation, approximately 4km south west of Lutterworth in the south of Leicestershire. Evaluation trenching and subsequent excavation ahead of the construction of a wind farm revealed a complex sequence of possible late Iron Age and early Roman settlement. The earliest features were a series of parallel, east to west orientated ditches dating to the mid to late 1st century AD which were found crossing the northern half of the area. These were replaced during the first half of the 2nd century by a series of rectangular enclosures in the southern half of the area which were enclosed by a substantial ditch which could be traced running north-north-west to south-south-east across the western side of the site before turning east at its southern end. Four structures were found within the excavated area. Structures One and Two both appeared to be associated with the earlier phase of activity. Structure One may have been the remains of a rectangular timber building but Structure Two was almost certainly the remains of a roundhouse. Late Iron Age pottery found beneath a cobble surface in Structure Two and from one of its drip-gullies may indicate that the roundhouse dated to the Conquest period (early-mid 1st century). A second roundhouse, Structure Three, was sited immediately south of Structure Two and appeared to be associated with the later enclosures. Its demise was marked by a thick, overlying layer of soil containing large quantities of charcoal and burnt daub. This appeared to date to the early 2nd century. The fourth structure, which was stratigraphically the latest feature in the area, was a substantial stone platform surrounded on its north side by a ditch which appeared to be intended to keep the platform dry from water descending on it from up-slope. Along the ditch the platform was kerbed with stone, including a large fragment of re-used rotary-quern. It is thought the platform was intended to be a dry, external working surface, possibly a threshing floor. A dispersed collection of redeposited iron slag and vitrified heath lining suggests iron-working, most likely smithing, was also occurring in the vicinity but no primary evidence of industrial activity was found in the area. Geophysical results suggest that the occupation in Turbine 4 was on the western edge of a small settlement sited immediately east of the excavated area. Ceramic dating suggests that all occupation had ceased by the mid-2nd century AD. Elsewhere, a series of severely plough-damaged ditches and gullies formed two parallel alignments, possibly marking a trackway heading north-north-west towards the settlement. To the north two cremation pits were excavated - the small amount of pottery recovered from the area suggests occupation could have spanned the 1st century AD, or may well have been confined to the decades around the Conquest period.
Organisation	University of Leicester Archaeological Services
Area of investigation (ha)	0.72
Easting	457500
Northing	281500
Start Date	25
End Date	150
Rural settlement form	unclassified
Number of circular buildings	2
Number of rectangular buildings	1
Paddocks	No evidence
Multi-room building	No evidence
Aisled building	No evidence
Masonry building	No evidence
Trackway/Road	Evidence
Structured deposits	No evidence

Burial data
Burials summary	Two unurned cremation burials in pits - not closely dated, though the small amount of pottery recovered from the area of the cremations suggests occupation could have spanned the 1st century AD, or may well have been confined to the decades around the Conquest period. A tentative age for one of the cremations - juvenile/sub-adult.
Burials start date	Present
Burials end date	100
Number of burials	2
Cremations	2
Child	Present
Disarticulated bone	Not present or no data
Animal bone	Not present or no data
Associated settlement	Not present or no data
Associated enclosure	Not present or no data
Grave goods	Not present or no data

Brooch data
Brooch summary	No data

Coins data
Coin summary	No data

Other finds data
Finds summary	Evaluation data: Other finds were limited to two fragments of an upper stone from a rotary quern and 5 fragments of CBM (no weight provided). Excavation data: an iron nail and a rotary quern. Also some fragments of fired clay. Evidence for smithing in the form of hearth slag, hearth bottom etc.
Quernstones	2
Iron slag	Present
Hobnails	Not present or no data
Evidence for salt production	Not present or no data
Evidence for bone-working	Not present or no data
Evidence for metalworking	Present
Structural worked stone	Not present or no data
Painted plaster	Not present or no data
Window glass	Not present or no data
Tesselated floor/mosaic	Not present or no data
Tiled roof	Not present or no data
Briquetage	Not present or no data
Inscriptions	Not present or no data
Hypocaust	Not present or no data
Evidence for Christianity	Not present or no data

Pottery data
Pottery summary	The assemblage as a whole spans the Late Iron Age to the middle or possibly later decades of the 2nd century. Excavation data: 1313 sherds. Evaluation data: 113 sherds - most of the pottery comprises early Roman grog-tempered, mixed-gritted, shelly and sandy transitional wares dating from the middle to the end of the 1st century. The grey and oxidised wares also appear to be fairly early, dating from the later 1st century into the first part of the 2nd. The two samian ware dishes are the latest datable vessels, as they could potentially date up to c.AD150; however taken together with the rest of the pottery a date earlier in the 2nd century would seem more likely. A scan of the small amount of re-deposited material showed it to be comparable to the stratified assemblage, with material dating from the mid-late 1st century or early 2nd century.
No. of sherds	1426
Weight (kg)	10
Mortarium sherds	3
Samian sherds	23
Religious vessels	Not present or no data
Pottery wasters	Not present or no data
Graffito	Not present or no data
Amphora presence	Not present or no data
Mortarium presence	Present
Samian presence	Present

Plant data
The data below is divided into an overarching record for the whole site and, if recorded, separate records for individual phases.
Summary	Overall the archaeobotanical evidence was very poor. Only one sample produced cereal remains - minor wheat grains and spelt chaff.
Evidence for malting	No evidence
Evidence for horticultural crops	No evidence
Overall
Spelt wheat	minor
Evidence for hay meadows	No evidence
Start date	100
Evidence for imported foods	No evidence
End date	150

Faunal Ageing data
The data below is divided into an overarching record for the whole site and, if recorded, separate records for individual phases. Concordance with existing published ageing criteria is provided in the tables below Cattle Age category Grant stage Halstead stage Maltby stage Neonate 0-2 A 1 Juvenile 3-16 B-C 2-3 Subadult 17-37 D-E 4-5 Young adult 38-42 F 6 Adult >43 G 7 Elderly >43 H-I 7 Sheep/Goat Age category Grant stage Payne stage Payne stage Maltby stage Neonate 0-1 A 0-2 months 1 Juvenile 2-17 B-C 2-12 months 2-3 Immature 18-28 D 1-2 years 4 Subadult 28-39 E-F 2-4 years 5-6 Adult >40 G 4-6 years 7 Elderly >40 H-I 6-10 years 7 Pig Age category Grant stage Hambleton stage Maltby stage O'Connor stage Neonate 0-1 A 1 Juvenile 2-14 B-C 2-3 juvenile Immature 15-25 D-E 4-5 immature Subadult 26-35 F 6 subadult Adult 36-41 G 7 adult Elderly >42 H-I 8 elderly
Summary	No data
Evidence of neonatal (unknown) bones	No
Evidence of neonatal horse bones	No
Evidence of neonatal domestic fowl	No
Evidence of neonatal sheep/goat bones	No
Phase - Overall
Evidence of neonatal cattle bones	No
Evidence of neonatal pig bones	No

Site plans (unpublished sources):

Related Sources

The identifiers displayed below have been collated by the project from project reports, HER records provided by those organisations at the beginning of the data collection phase of the project, and the OASIS system. These are intended to provide users with additional avenues of enquiry about this record as held in/by the named organisations, as well as provide a level of concordance with existing systems. Where possible, hyperlinks to these online records have been provided. It should be noted that collation of identifiers is not authoratative, and that gaps undoubtedly exist. For more information about sites in a particular area, including those not included in this academic synthesis, users are encouraged to consult the relevant HER record, of which the following resources and lists for England and Wales are available.

HER Event ID: ELE8856 (Leicestershire)

HER Source ID: SLE3299 (Leicestershire)

Museum Accession: X.A99.2011

OASIS ID: universi1-117075

Save Resource

Title

Save to myAds Resources

Share This Page

Email

Print

Twitter Facebook MySpace

Delicous Stumble Digg

More Destinations

Newsfeeds

ADS Newsfeed ADS Collections Newsfeed

Help

Website Archsearch Archives

Contact Us