Pre-Construct Archaeology Ltd Newark were commissioned to undertake a strip, map and sample exercise (SMS) on a greenfield site in support of a planning application being considered by Harborough District Council for a residential development of six detached dwellings. Two Desk-Based Assessments for separate parts of the site suggested the site was located in an area of archaeological sensitivity, a potential borne out by other archaeological interventions in the area. Of note was the compelling evidence for Roman activity in the Medbourne area, a known Roman small town on the line of the ‘Gartree Road’. The remains of a high-status villa lay immediately to the north of the site. An earlier evaluation revealed remains late Iron Age to early Roman date, and the SMS investigation was intended to mitigate development impacts on the area of these remains.

The SMS strategy, as set out in a Written Scheme of Investigation, comprised opening c.3000m of land which sloped down from west to east.

Iron Age/ Romano-British and early medieval activity was recorded across the site and included an Iron Age/ Romano-British enclosure, a rectangular gridded ditched field system associated with fence lines and post structures, and early medieval activity

Following post-excavation assessment, it was possible to relate the remains to ongoing Regional Research Agendas, in particular to a known 3rd century villa site and demonstrate archaeologically the well-developed agricultural landscape around it.

Many Roman sites in the region overlie Iron Age predecessors and many produce early medieval materials. Further analysis of pottery, coinage and metalwork from these sites may reveal the elements of continuity and discontinuity within and between periods and possibly how the market economy of the small towns penetrated into the countryside.

Completion of the archaeological work and submission of the report to the Local Planning Archaeologist enable the site to be signed off for development of the new dwellings.