Sedgefield Community Research Project

The remains of a Roman town have been identified at East Park, Sedgefield. An ongoing programme of survey and excavation work is continuing, run by Archaeological Services in partnership with Durham County Council. Volunteers have been digging at the site in the summer of 2005 and 2006. For more information on the project, contact David Mason (DCC) at archaeology@durham.gov.uk.

The site was originally found by looking at aerial photographs, on which the Roman Road is visible crossing the park. The Roman settlement is laid out on either side of the road. Where the road runs closest to Sedgefield, however, the settlement is much larger, and continues under the modern village. Here the settlement is divided up into dozens of enclosed areas - which are probably where different families lived and worked, or certain types of activity, like pottery making, took place. In between the enclosures are small roads, all of which lead to a central open space, which may have acted like a market place for the settlement.

The excavations have indicated that people lived at the site about AD 150 to AD 400. In 2005, we excavated part of one of the large enclosures along the side of the main road. The enclosure contained a large rectangular building and several small clay ovens. It's probable that this reflects a small domestic set up for a local family. Large quantities of broken pottery and animal bone were recovered, as well as a bronze jug and a complete pot: these items had probably been deliberately buried when the site was abandoned.

During 2006 we excavated a small enclosure on the edge of the central open area of the settlement: this enclosure is very special, and it is unlikely that anyone lived in it. It was positioned so that everyone coming through the town had to walk past it: inside was one large square wooden building, which was surrounded by a ditch so that no one could enter it. It is likely that this is a religious building: travellers on the main road between the south and north may have stopped off here to make an offering and say prayers to the Gods before continuing on their journey.