More information : (SO 645238) Ariconium Roman Town (R) (Site of) (NAT). (1)
Ariconium is mentioned in the itinerary of Antoninius as being 15 miles from Gloucester, and has been placed by Horsley in the vicinity of Ross. This ascription is probable rather than certain (3). The first recorded discovery of Roman remains was at Bury Hill (SO 641236) in 1758 when large quantities of Roman and some Iron Age coins were found together with fragments of tessellated pavements, remains of buildings etc. The whole area has traces of iron workings. Vague discolorations visible from the air indicate ground disturbed by occupation or iron-working but there has been no hint so far of substantial buildings, streets or defences (4). Excavations in 1922 (2) on Cinder Hill (trial trenching 'A' - 'F' on illustration card) revealed an oblong building (SO 6465 2403 'G'- sited from map) with the remains of a second nearby. In 1963 a Romano British iron working site was excavated (SO 6444244 'H' - sited from plan) to the north of the area. It is clear that the whole Ariconium complex must cover a large area, possibly 250 acres. To the south of the Bollitree to Bromsash Lane there must be several stone built structures, indicated by the large amounts of pottery brought up by the plough together with building stones, whilst to the north a large acreage is covered by furnace sites. So far there is no evidence for regarding Ariconium as a town, and a more realistic picture might be that of a villa estate with other buildings appertaining to a posting station, adjoining an industrial belt(5). Ariconium might compare with Chesterton (TL 19 NW 39) as a small indsutrial town, but too little of it is known for useful discussion (4). (2-5)
Crop marks and possible short section of Ro road are visible on APs. (6)
Name 'ARICONIVM' accepted for 4th. edition R.B.Map. (7)
Finds resulting from land clearance in 1785 [?1758] reported by Mr Hopkins Merrick (8a) also included "a large bronze head with ram's horns" (8b), and [Presumably] the statuette of Diana exhibited to the Society of Antiquaries in 1788 and subsequently lost (8c). Road-widening at the site in 1804 revealed several burials and the remains of a stone wall, "apparently the front of a building". Further surface finds of pottery and scoria reported in 1805 (8d).
Finds collected from plough soil by Mr W C Palmer of Bollitree inspected by members of the British Archaeological Association durinG site visit September 1870. (8e)
[Reference 8a-e reproduced in source 2, Appendix I]. (8)
Further excavation in 1968, with trial trenching at SO 647238 ('I' Illustration card) revealing that the Roman deposit levels had been heavily disturbed by cultivation, with only 1st century deposits remaining. The observation of tesserae within the plough soil also prompted a "rescue dig" at SO 645241 ('J'), which did not reveal, as anticipated, the remains of a mosaic floor, but the remains of five bowl furnaces, partly damaged by the footings of a cross wall, and a 1st century pennanular brooch, possibly of the same deposit. (9)
Field walking near Bollitree Castle in 1986 produced some 2,000 finds, including slag and first and second century pottery. No pottery of the fourth century was encountered. (10)
Additional reference. (11)
The extensive and fragmented cropmark remains of ditches, roads and enclosures presumed to be associated with the Roman settlement site of Ariconium described by the previous authorities were seen covering an area of c.1square km centred on SO 6451 2375 and mapped from aerial photographs. The visible remains cover a large area and are very fragmentary and hard to discern. It is clear from the aerial photographs that there are at least two phases represented by two separate alignments of the ditches and enclosures in the southern region of the site.
These enclosures are rectilinear and may represent field systems.
The courses of two sections of probable road could be seen. One aligned NE-SW between SO 6445 2354 and SO 6474 2329 (recorded as RR611), and the other aligned E-W in the northern section of the site between SO 6397 2402 and SO 6456 2402.
The clarity of the cropmarks and the obliqueness of available photography makes identification of any structures of features very hard. Centred at SO 6461 2396 a possible curvilinear enclosure was identified, and at SO 6475 2403 there are the possible traces of a building on the very edge of the site.
These features were mapped at 1:10,000 scale as part of the English Heritage: Gloucestershire NMP project. (12-19)
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