Scole was a substantial roadside settlement on the Pye Road (the Roman road from Colchester/Camulodunum to Caistor-by-Norwich/Venta Icenorum), situated where the road crossed the River Waveney on the modern Norfolk/Suffolk border. Occupation ran from the mid-1st century AD through to the late 4th century, with the settlement reaching its greatest extent in the 2nd and 3rd centuries, when it covered some 25–30 hectares — making it one of the larger 'small towns' of East Anglia.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
Scole functioned as a posting station and local market centre serving the surrounding Icenian countryside, controlling a key river crossing on the principal north–south route through the region. Its size and waterlogged deposits make it one of the more important small towns of the civitas Icenorum, second only to Venta itself.
Excavations in 1973–74 (Rogerson) and large-scale work in 1993–94 ahead of the A140 Scole-Dickleburgh bypass revealed timber buildings, wells, a possible mansio, industrial activity including malting and tanning, and remarkable waterlogged organic preservation in the Waveney floodplain — including wooden structures, leather, and a famous carved wooden figure. Finds of altars and votive material also hint at religious activity, though no temple has been definitively identified.
Scole was a substantial roadside settlement on the Pye Road (the Roman road from Colchester/Camulodunum to Caistor-by-Norwich/Venta Icenorum), situated where the road crossed the River Waveney on the modern Norfolk/Suffolk border. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a settlement site from the Roman period in Britain.
Scole Roman settlement 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 Scole (0.4 km), Stonham Aspal (19.1 km), Roman villa at Stanton Clair (19.5 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
Aubrey Research generates detailed historical reports for any location in Britain, incorporating Roman heritage, Domesday Book records, scheduled monument data, archaeological finds and much more. Enter a nearby address to begin.
Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any address in Britain — drawing on Roman heritage, Domesday records, scheduled monument data, archaeological finds and medieval history to reveal the complete story of a landscape.
Research the area around Scole Roman settlement