Life in Poulton, 1,8000 years go

5:35pm Thursday 27th March 2008

Comments (0)   Have your say »

A leading archaeologist has stressed the historical importance of the second century Roman remains found in Poulton.

Alex Beben from the Lancaster office of Oxford Archaeology, was speaking as members of the public got the chance to see the 1,800 year-old dwellings and pottery fragments at an open day at the site on Garstang Road East.

The find was made by workers from United Utilities who were involved in preliminary excavations at the start of a £10 million sewer improvement scheme for the area.

Mr Beben, said: "This is the first such discovery on the Fylde coast and only the third in Lancashire.

"The people who lived here would have reared cattle and done some basic arable farming.

"As the topsoil was stripped away, we realised we were looking at something very exciting and rare."

A team of 10 archaeologists is now working at the football pitch-sized site, painstakingly uncovering and documenting what remains of the Anglo-Romano roundhouse which is around 10 metres in diameter.

Alex added: "A small amount of black burnished ware pottery and around a third of a mortar and pestle, thought to date from around the second century, has been found which has helped us to date the roundhouse."

The remains of the structure, which would have been a dwelling house, include an outside drainage gulley, holes for the timber support posts which would have been used, some cobbles and a storage pit.

The archaeological team believe they have also discovered signs of a further roundhouse a few metres away, indicating this could have been the site of an early settlement.

Alex and the rest of the team will be on site for the next two weeks documenting every detail of their finds and taking photographs which will eventually form the basis of an information archive.

Once the excavations have been fully documented and analysed, the land will be returned to United Utilities to carry on with the sewer improvements.