Neatham was a small Romano-British roadside settlement (often classed as a "small town") situated on the road from Silchester (Calleva Atrebatum) to Chichester (Noviomagus Reginorum), at a crossing of the River Wey near modern Alton in Hampshire. Occupation spans roughly the mid-1st to late 4th century AD, with the settlement reaching its greatest extent in the 3rd and 4th centuries, covering some 20+ hectares of ribbon development along the road frontage.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
Neatham functioned as a local market and service centre for the surrounding agricultural hinterland of north-east Hampshire, and as a posting point on a significant inter-civitas route between the Atrebates and Regni. It is one of the better-understood "small towns" of central southern Britain, demonstrating how undefended nucleated settlements articulated rural economy and movement in the region.
Excavations by Martin Millett and David Graham in the 1970s (published 1986) revealed timber buildings, ovens, wells, metalworking debris, and substantial pottery and coin assemblages, along with cemeteries on the settlement's periphery; geophysical and field survey have since extended understanding of its layout. Notable finds include a hoard of late Roman coins and evidence for iron- and bronze-working, indicating modest but diverse craft production alongside agricultural processing.
Neatham was a small Romano-British roadside settlement (often classed as a "small town") situated on the road from Silchester (Calleva Atrebatum) to Chichester (Noviomagus Reginorum), at a crossing of the River Wey near modern Alton in Hampshire. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a settlement site from the Roman period in Britain.
Neatham 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.
Several Roman sites lie within a short distance, including Cuckoo's Corner Roman settlement, Neatham (2.7 km), Cuckoo's Corner Roman site, Neatham (2.9 km), Roman villa SW of Wyck Place (4.1 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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