Forestry Commission - News - roman ruins prove ricky right

‘Ricky’s Motel’ in heart of Bedford Purlieus really is Roman after all.

The strange rectangular lump in the Forestry Commission woodlands near Peterborough got its name from the man who discovered it, in 2005.

Forest craftsman Ricky Hannah was astonished that he had never noticed the massive remains before since he had been working in the woodland for 44 years.
Investigations at the time suggested it was once a 2,000-year-old traveller’s stop-over complete with bedrooms, baths and steam rooms.Now archaeologists have confirmed at last that Ricky’s find really was built by the Romans – probably between the second and fourth centuries A.D.

Excavations have been taking places at three places in the woods thanks to funding from Augean Ltd’s landfill tax and Peterborough City Council. The cash has paid for experts from the county council’s Northamptonshire Archaeology team to spend two week on-site. First they looked beneath the soil surface using electromagnetic ‘geo-physics’ equipment. Then they got out their trowels.

Miss Carol Simmonds, project supervisor for Northamptonshire Archaeology, said they had dug up pieces of Roman flue tile on the site.
She said the fragments would once have formed part of the building’s ‘hypocaust’, or under-floor heating system.

She said funciotn of the building was still unclear. All the archaeologists could say for certain at this stage was that the remains were of a substantial, high status masonry structure.

She added that elsewhere in the wood they had found another Roman site containing shards of domestic pottery. Most of the pots would have been made in Durobrivae (Water Newton), in the Nene Valley and were crucial to dating the site.The third site turned out to be a 100-year-old dry stone wall.

Miss Simmonds said the excavations had produced important information about the structures. It would tell the Forestry Commission how best to manage the area with a view to conserving the artefacts lying under the surface.Anyone wanting to find out more about the fascinating history of Bedford Purlieus should ring 01780 44920.
The Forestry Commission looks after more than 800 ancient monuments in its woodlands in England. Details can be found on the www.forestry.gov.uk.

NOTES TO EDITOR

1. For further information please contact Susan Taylor, Forestry Commission Visitor & Community Services Manager, on 01780 444920.

2. The Forestry Commission looks after several thousand archaeological sites in England some 800 of which are Scheduled Ancient Monuments of national importance.