title: Roman Droitwich
title: Dodderhill fort, Bays Meadow villa, and roadside settlement
titleType: Subtitle
Creators: name: Hurst, Derek
Publisher: name: Archaeology Data Service
Year: 2020

description: Council for British Archaeology Research Reports, 146
description: Dodderhill, Droitwich: excavations 1977-85: The first structural evidence of human activity on the hilltop may be dated to the late Iron Age and was associated with the extraction of salt. This industry was displaced by Roman military occupation based within a fort whose outer defences consisted of a ditch with an irregular plan, staggered entrances, and a 'Punic' profile. This ditch enclosed an area of approximately 5.2ha (12.8 acres) and the postulated inner defences would have enclosed an area of about 1.7ha (4.2 acres). The fort was both established and abandoned in the Neronian period and may have been garrisoned by a unit of archers (sagittarii). There were slight traces of activity during the Saxon period and permanent occupation from the 11th century onwards. This was associated with domestic buildings belonging to the church. The dominant position of the site was utilised again during the English Civil War when the hilltop was briefly refortified. Hanbury Street, Droitwich: excavations 1980-2: A late 1st-century AD palisaded boundary ditch and drainage gullies were constructed near the junction of two Roman roads. Subsequent 2nd-century levels included an extensive spread of charred grain and chaff and features associated with the processing and storage of grain. In the early 3rd century a cobbled surface sealed the chaff and grain deposits, forming a yard area associated with pits to the south of an assumed property fronting onto Hanbury Street. There was no archaeological evidence of further activity on the site until the 13th century when a cobbled surface was constructed that disturbed earlier deposits and truncated features from earlier phases. The erection of the Royal George Hotel in the 19th century also considerably disturbed earlier levels. The eastern side of the main hotel building was detected with an adjacent cobbled courtyard area and linked drainage system.Bays Meadow villa, Droitwich: excavations 1967-77: Excavations at Bays Meadow followed earlier investigations by Allies, Hodgkinson, and Gelling. There was an initial phase of Iron Age salt working associated with briquetage, pits (possibly for the production of briquetage), and an evaporation furnace. An undated roundhouse may also have belonged to this phase or slightly later. A villa complex was built in the 2nd century AD comprising two corridor villas. Features relating to its construction included a limekiln, a mosaic worker's hut, and a mortar mixing pit. The main villa contained hypocaust rooms and was furnished with mosaics and painted wall plaster, Several opulent small finds were found in association. The site was fortified at the end of the 3rd century with a rampart and ditch. The internal area was at that time reorganised with cobbled roadways, drainage channels, and timber buildings. An aisled building was also constructed. By the beginning of the 4th century the main villa had been destroyed by fire, after which time the main activities were concentrated around the aisled building. The settlement clearly maintained some status even at this time, to judge from the presence of a fine collection of glass vessel fragments from the area of the aisled building. The site was finally abandoned suddenly towards the end of the 4th century. There was little evidence of any further activity until it was put under ridge-and-furrow cultivation in the medieval period. The site was not reoccupied until factories were built in the 20th century. It might be assumed that this complex had served as an administration centre for the salt production at Droitwich, while an official presence can perhaps be inferred from an intaglio of the emperor Lucius Verus. No evidence was found of salt-related activity on the site after the Iron Age, however, and indeed a purely agricultural economy is indicated by the finds.