Roman BritainIron Age and Roman settlement including a saltern on Hall Meadow
Roman Settlement · Civilian

Iron Age and Roman settlement including a saltern on Hall Meadow

Roman Britain
Pleiades ID: nhle-8168
Site type
Settlement
Category
Civilian
Latitude
52.6881
Longitude
-0.2815
Overview

History & context

The Hall Meadow site lies in the Welland valley near the Lincolnshire/Cambridgeshire/Northamptonshire border, in the fen-edge zone where Iron Age settlement frequently continued into the Roman period. Activity spans the later Iron Age through to at least the 2nd–3rd century AD, and includes a saltern — a coastal/estuarine salt-production site exploiting the brackish waters and silts of the fen margins.

Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →

Significance

Historical significance

Salt production was a key economic activity along the Wash fen-edge under Roman rule, supplying salt for preservation of meat and fish, and the Hall Meadow saltern is part of the well-documented cluster of Roman salterns extending across south Lincolnshire and the Nene/Welland mouths. Such sites linked the agrarian fen-edge settlements to wider provincial supply networks, possibly under some form of imperial or contractual oversight given the strategic importance of salt.

Archaeology

Archaeological record

Typical evidence at fen-edge salterns of this type includes briquetage (fired clay containers, hearth supports, and evaporation vessels), brine-settling tanks, hearth debris, and associated domestic pottery and enclosure ditches indicating an adjacent settlement focus. Specific published excavation detail for Hall Meadow itself is limited in the readily available record, and the site is known principally from regional survey and HER entries rather than a major published excavation.

About this site

Questions & answers

What is Iron Age and Roman settlement including a saltern on Hall Meadow?

The Hall Meadow site lies in the Welland valley near the Lincolnshire/Cambridgeshire/Northamptonshire border, in the fen-edge zone where Iron Age settlement frequently continued into the Roman period. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a settlement site from the Roman period in Britain.

What type of Roman site is Iron Age and Roman settlement including a saltern on Hall Meadow?

Iron Age and Roman settlement including a saltern on Hall Meadow is classified as a Roman settlement — 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.

What other Roman sites are near Iron Age and Roman settlement including a saltern on Hall Meadow?

Several Roman sites lie within a short distance, including Roman site, Priors Meadow (2 km), Helpston (7.2 km), Unnamed Mine (7.8 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.

How can I research the history of the area around Iron Age and Roman settlement including a saltern on Hall Meadow?

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