Rossington Bridge, on the River Torne just south of Doncaster (Roman *Danum*), was the site of a Roman crossing on the road running north from Lincoln to York, but is best known for a major pottery production complex active in the mid- to later 2nd century AD (c. AD 140–200). The potteries here were among the most significant industrial concerns in the region, producing mortaria and coarse wares on a scale that supplied military and civilian markets across northern Britain.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
The site is notable as the home base of the mortarium potter Sarrius and several associated stamping potters, whose products are found widely across northern England and into Scotland — placing Rossington Bridge among the most important industrial-scale mortarium workshops in Roman Britain. Its strategic position on the road network and adjacent to military supply routes north explains its prominence.
Excavations by Buckland, Hartley and Rigby (most notably the work published in 2001) revealed kilns, workshops and waster dumps yielding large quantities of mortaria stamped by Sarrius, Setibogius, Secundua and others, alongside coarse grey wares. The actual bridge structure itself is poorly characterised archaeologically, with the road approach and crossing inferred from alignment rather than excavated remains.
Rossington Bridge, on the River Torne just south of Doncaster (Roman *Danum*), was the site of a Roman crossing on the road running north from Lincoln to York, but is best known for a major pottery production complex active in the mid- to later 2nd century AD (c. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a bridge site from the Roman period in Britain.
Rossington Bridge Roman potteries is classified as a Roman bridge — a infrastructure 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 Rossington Roman fort (1.1 km), Stancil Roman villa (4.7 km), Danum? (6.8 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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Research the area around Rossington Bridge Roman potteries