Roman BritainRoman barrow adjacent to Ermine Street, 290m east of St Bartholomew's Church
Roman Mine · Industrial

Roman barrow adjacent to Ermine Street, 290m east of St Bartholomew's Church

Roman Britain
Pleiades ID: nhle-17121
Site type
Mine
Category
Industrial
Latitude
52.3558
Longitude
-0.2102
Overview

History & context

This site is a Roman barrow situated alongside Ermine Street, the major Roman road running north from London through Lincoln to York, approximately 290m east of St Bartholomew's Church. The coordinates place it in the vicinity of Sawtry/Conington in Cambridgeshire, in the fenland edge zone. Despite the database classification as "Mine (industrial)," the monument is in fact a funerary barrow, likely dating to the 1st–2nd century AD, when roadside burial mounds were a recognised feature of romanised landscapes in eastern Britain.

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

Significance

Historical significance

Roadside barrows along Ermine Street represent a distinctive Romano-British burial tradition associated with prosperous rural landowners or local elites who wished their tombs to be visible to travellers, echoing Mediterranean practice. The Bartlow Hills (Cambridgeshire/Essex border), Mersea, and Stevenage barrows form the broader regional comparanda, indicating native aristocratic adoption of Roman commemorative display.

Archaeology

Archaeological record

Little specific excavation data is recorded for this particular mound, and the Pleiades entry lacks description; its identification rests largely on its morphology and topographic relationship to Ermine Street. Comparable excavated examples in the region have yielded cremation burials accompanied by glass vessels, samian ware, bronze fittings, and occasionally imported grave goods, though whether such material survives here is unknown without direct investig

About this site

Questions & answers

What is Roman barrow adjacent to Ermine Street, 290m east of St Bartholomew's Church?

This site is a Roman barrow situated alongside Ermine Street, the major Roman road running north from London through Lincoln to York, approximately 290m east of St Bartholomew's Church. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a mine site from the Roman period in Britain.

What type of Roman site is Roman barrow adjacent to Ermine Street, 290m east of St Bartholomew's Church?

Roman barrow adjacent to Ermine Street, 290m east of St Bartholomew's Church is classified as a Roman mine — a industrial 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 Roman barrow adjacent to Ermine Street, 290m east of St Bartholomew's Church?

Several Roman sites lie within a short distance, including Roman barrow 450m south west of Stukeley Park (0.2 km), Durovigutum (4.8 km), Sawtry (11.2 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 Roman barrow adjacent to Ermine Street, 290m east of St Bartholomew's Church?

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Research the area around Roman barrow adjacent to Ermine Street, 290m east of St Bartholomew's Church