Cotterstock is the site of a Roman villa on the west bank of the River Nene in Northamptonshire, first noted in 1736 when a tessellated pavement was uncovered during ploughing. The villa appears to have been active through the later Roman period (probably 2nd–4th centuries AD), part of the dense cluster of villas and farmsteads along the Nene valley exploiting its fertile soils and river transport.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
The site sits within one of Roman Britain's most prosperous rural landscapes, near the major pottery-producing region of the lower Nene valley (Castor/Water Newton) and the small town of Durobrivae, suggesting integration into regional agricultural and ceramic economies. Its tessellated and mosaic floors indicate a residence of some pretension rather than a simple working farm.
The 1736 discovery recorded a substantial mosaic pavement, and subsequent finds from the area have included tesserae, building stone, painted wall plaster, and Roman pottery, but the villa has never been systematically excavated and its plan remains largely unknown. Aerial photography and fieldwalking have suggested associated enclosures and outbuildings, though detailed published evidence for the structure itself is limited.
Cotterstock is the site of a Roman villa on the west bank of the River Nene in Northamptonshire, first noted in 1736 when a tessellated pavement was uncovered during ploughing. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a villa site from the Roman period in Britain.
Cotterstock is classified as a Roman villa — a civilian site in the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer. Roman Britain's archaeology encompasses thousands of sites ranging from legionary fortresses and marching camps to villas, temples and towns.
Several Roman sites lie within a short distance, including Ashton Roman small town north east of Oundle (1.3 km), Ashton (2.4 km), Apethorpe (5.8 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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