King Street & Rectory Farm, West Deeping

These two archaeological sites lie just to the north of the A1175 between Market Deeping and West Deeping. Some 175 hectares of land have been investigated over the past three decades in advance of sand and gravel extraction. We have long known from aerial photography that the Welland valley is rich in prehistoric features and these excavations have confirmed that this is the case – providing clues as to the evolution of the landscape from the Neolithic to the Roman period, and beyond.

The gravel extraction has been undertaken by two separate companies so, although the sites are contiguous, the archaeological investigations have also been undertaken by different organisations and there is no unified report. To the west, the “King Street, West Deeping” site has predominantly been excavated by the Cambridge Archaeological Unit (CAU) for Cemex. To the east, the “Rectory Farm, West Deeping” site has been predominantly excavated by Pre-Construct Archaeology (PCA) for Breedon.

Aerial photography and geophysical surveys suggest a curious network of ditches, pits and boundaries. This includes a series of at least 6 linear features running north-south and converging towards a common intersection with the Welland. It is believed these were droveways, used to manage cattle which grazed the grassy flood plain in summer but over-wintered on higher ground to the north. They may have been aligned with a crossing point of the river.

Cropmark Evidence for King Street & Rectory Farm, West Deeping Sites (Hunn & Rackham)

Excavations have provided much more detail and a guide to dates. There is evidence of settlement (probably seasonal) from as early as the Neolithic (c4300 to 2000 BC). Finds include Peterborough Ware pottery and largest assemblage of Grooved Ware pottery in the East of England. At that early time the landscape was largely unmanaged and the evidence suggests the diet included boar, brown bear and aurochs.

Barrows and burials date from the Early Bronze Age (c2500 to 1200 BC). Several distinctive “crouch burials” are associated with the newly arriving population of farmers bringing their “beaker” pottery from Europe. One of the crouch burials has been tagged “the archer” as the body was accompanied by an impressive collection of arrowheads.

The first formal division and enclosure of the landscape appears in the Middle Bronze Age – and it is from this time that the droveways date. They evolved over many generations though had fallen into disuse by the Middle Iron Age. The droveways are far from uniform but can be seen to connect with enclosures, and in places, lines of post holes suggest wooden fencing.

Settlement activity appears to diminish in the Late Bronze Age / Early Iron Age (c1000 to 500BC) but then re-intensifies. The King Street excavations have yielded 67kg of Iron Age pottery compared to 7.5kg from the Bronze Age. There was wholesale re-organisation of the landscape including a series of ditches which truncated the old droveways. Pastoralism gave way to crop production. There was initially increased emphasis on sheep and goats, though cattle and horses were more evident later in the period.

Transition into the Roman era was incremental. The Rectory Farm Roman villa developed on the site of an Iron Age settlement. The field boundaries show continuity. However, there was change. Not least, King Street is developed in the second century as an important Fen edge route between Durobrivae and Ancaster. Buildings sprung up along its route, where there is also evidence of a shrine where votive offerings were made. And a significant local road branched to the east towards current day Market Deeping. The area was flourishing in the 3rd and 4th centuries with a rebuilt villa, a bath house, and a substantial barn.

The 4th century villa featured two E-W oriented wings, each about 33m x 12m; these were joined on their eastern side by a wall, so forming a courtyard (see reconstruction below). Survival of the stone foundations was fragmentary and it is possible that the eastern wall originally formed part of a further building.

The area continued to be farmed after the Roman empire retreated from Britain in the 5th century. Evidence from the excavation includes Saxon beads and 28 Saxon inhumations close to King Street.

Early Neolithic Stone Tools. Image Credit – PCA

Neolithic Bone Tools

Woodlands style Grooved Ware, Late Neolithic

Early Bronze Age Arrowheads

Bronze Age Spear Head from Rectory Farm Excavation. Image Credit – PCA

Early Iron Age Bone Needle

Late Iron Age Bone Dice

Foundations of a Roman Barn, King Street Image Credit – CAU

Reconstruction of Rectory Farm Roman Villa Image Credit – Hunn and Rackham

Roman Copper Alloy Horse Figurine

Saxon Necklace Beads

The King Street & Rectory Farm sites form a sizeable area of agricultural land on the north side of the Welland Valley.

During the Neolithic and Bronze Age the area was exploited by hunter gatherers and the earliest farmers who settled on the better drained gravel river terraces. To the south of the river we know there was an extensive ritual landscape.

During the Iron Age the area would have come under the regional influence of the Corieltauvi, the tribe which governed Lincolnshire and the Trent valley.

With access to river transport and close proximity to growing urban centres, the area would have started to provide food to a much more widely spread market during Roman times.

The combined site, together with earlier excavations in the Welland valley, provide an unusually comprehensive view of the way in which landscapes evolved from the Neolithic to the present day. This evolution would be typical of many parts of England but rarely do we have access to such a large area and one which has not been subjected to major disturbance during the past 1,500 years. Then there are more specific aspects such as the Fen edge location which result in distinctive styles of farming and settlement. And assemblages of pottery which extend our knowledge of prehistoric material culture. And numerous skeletons and inhumations which will go on providing new clues about lifestyle and ancestry of prehistoric people. Moreover, the impact of Roman influence, introducing features which we see to this day.

Final reports of the excavations are still awaited but there are multiple interim reports which provide parts of the picture. These are more thorough and more readily available for the King Street area excavated by Cambridge Archaeology Unit.

Rectory Farm, West Deeping, Archaeological Watching Brief, PCA, May 2004

Archaeological Assessment Report, Rectory Farm, West Deeping, PCA, 2006

Excavations at West Deeping (King Street), CAU, 2010

Archaeological Excavations at Cemex Quarry, West Deeping, Phases 5,6 & 7, CAU, 2021

Archaeological Excavations at Cemex Quarry, West Deeping, Phases 2, 9 & 10, CAU, 2021

East Midlands Period Resource Assessment: The Later Bronze Age and Iron Age, Steven Willis, 2022

Hunn and Rackham, in preparation, A Multi-Period Landscape at Rectory Farm, West Deeping

Droveway and pits (& Medieval drainage ditches) show dark against the sand and gravel
Image Credit – CAU

Top of page image – Excavation of a Bronze Age barrow. Image Credit – CAU