Bantham Ham, on the sandy promontory at the mouth of the River Avon in south Devon, is best known as a post-Roman trading site, but it also shows evidence of activity in the later Roman period. The site sits on a sheltered estuary anchorage and functioned as a coastal landing place, with its main floruit in the 5th–7th centuries AD when it became one of the principal Mediterranean import sites in western Britain.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
Its importance lies in maritime connectivity: Bantham is a key node in the late- and sub-Roman trade between south-west Britain, western Gaul, and the eastern Mediterranean, evidenced by imported amphorae and fine wares. It demonstrates the continuity of Atlantic seaways and demand for Mediterranean goods (oil, wine) in Dumnonia after the formal end of Roman administration.
Excavations (notably by Silvester in the 1970s and Reed et al. in 2001) recovered hearths, midden deposits, animal bone, and substantial quantities of imported pottery including Late Roman Amphorae (LR1, LR2), Phocaean Red Slip Ware, and African Red Slip Ware, alongside locally produced grass-tempered wares. The character of structures remains ephemeral — stake-holes and occupation layers rather than masonry buildings — consistent with a seasonal beach market or trans-shipment site rather than a permanent nucleated settlement
Bantham Ham, on the sandy promontory at the mouth of the River Avon in south Devon, is best known as a post-Roman trading site, but it also shows evidence of activity in the later Roman period. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a settlement site from the Roman period in Britain.
Roman settlement site at Bantham Ham 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 Mount Batten: prehistoric and Romano-British settlement (20 km), Berry Pomeroy Castle: a defended residence and Tudor mansion (25.5 km), Roman's Cross 50m west of the church (26.1 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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