Untitled - Council for British Archaeology

49CONCLUSIONSThe importance of this excavation lies in the fact that it is the firstattempt, in the Milton Keynes area, to totally excavate a minor Roman site.Admittedly the excavation was not as complete as one would have wished, dueto the necessity to dig in adverse winter conditions, which meant that thebest return was not obtained for the amount of money available. However, theresults have shown a minor agricultural site commencing in the Antonine periodand flourishing during the C3rd and C4th. That it was part of an estate runfrom a nearby 'Villa' may be a distinct possibility. The accessibility to goodquality building rubble for use as hardcore (even painted wall plaster wasfound in the fill of the gully of Structure 3), suggests contact with a nearbyvilla, such as Bradwell, which is the only known major villa within a mileof this site. The excavation of the site is part of our programmed policy oftotally excavating the Bradwell Villa and all other Roman sites in its immediateneighbourhood.Report by R. Adkins, Site Supervisor.SECKLOW HILL - A HUNDRED MEETING PLACEThe site is situated at NGR SP 85133918, which is the meeting point ofthe ancient Secklow Hundred at the boundaries of the three ancient parishes ofBradwell, Great Linford and Woolstone. The site has also been suggested asthat of a Roman crossroads, (see Viatores, Roman Roads of South East Midlands,p.324).The surface geology is Boulder clay. The possibility of a mound at thispoint has been known from historical evidence for a considerable time and on a1641 estate map for the parish of Great Linford the mound is marked as aprominent hill called "Selly Hill". In the C18th the site was described byBrowne Willis as "An hillock at the top of Linford Ground leading intoBradwell Field". The place-name evidence suggests that "Secklow" is a corruptionof the Anglo-Saxon "Sigelai" meaning "Victory Mound, or "Warriors' Mound"and points to a Saxon or pre-Saxon date.Early in 1975 when the construction of the City Centre proved a threat tothe site, a contour survey made of the area did not confirm the existence of amound. The site was then trial-trenched by machine and the trenches located acurving ditch. Unfortunately the site proved to be severely waterlogged andin the face of worsening weather conditions further work was postponed. Soonafter this it was decided that the trees on the site were to be preserved andsince this suggested a 'safe period' for the site, no further work was carriedout until 1977 when proposed landscaping constituted a serious threat.A small rescue excavation was organised, but the presence of the treeswhich were still to be preserved meant that the excavation was not conductedin an orthodox fashion. Instead, trenches were cut wherever possible without- lamaging trees or their noots. It was hoped that their preservation mightprotect any remains immediately surrounding them from the ravages of landscaping..The trenches rapidly established the presence of a roughly circular ditchwith an average diameter of 25m. The ditch was an average of 1m. wide and wascut to a depth of between 30 cms. and 50 ems. into the natural clay. Theexistence of a mound was harder to establish, the ground surface suggestedonly the slightest indication of a mound (not confirmed by the contour survey),and the layers observed in the sections showed no slope suggestive of a mound.Indeed, it was very difficult to distinguish any separate layers between thebottom of topsoil and the surface of the natural clay. Although changes insoil colour and texture could be observed, there were no clear boundaries