Sleaford was a substantial Romano-British settlement in the Lincolnshire fenland edge, occupying the valley of the River Slea. It developed from a significant Late Iron Age centre of the Corieltauvi tribe — one of the most prolific producers of Iron Age coinage in Britain — into a roadside small town that flourished from the 1st through the 4th centuries AD.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
The site is notable for the remarkable continuity from a major pre-Roman tribal centre (possibly an administrative or mint site for the Corieltauvi) into the Roman period, and for its position controlling routes between the Witham valley, the Fens, and the limestone uplands. It likely served as a local market and craft-production centre rather than a chartered town.
Excavations, particularly at Old Place and around the Quarrington area, have produced very large quantities of Iron Age coin moulds (pellet trays) along with Roman buildings, pottery kilns, burials, and salt-working evidence from the nearby fen edge. The Roman settlement is known mainly through rescue and developer-led excavation rather than systematic exposure, so its full plan and street layout remain poorly defined.
Sleaford was a substantial Romano-British settlement in the Lincolnshire fenland edge, occupying the valley of the River Slea. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a settlement site from the Roman period in Britain.
Sleaford 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 Ancaster (8.6 km), Ancaster Roman settlement (8.7 km), Roman marching camp (8.9 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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