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For this programme, Tony Robinson and the Team travelled to Alfoldean in Sussex to uncover a 'mansio' – an official Roman coaching inn. Located on Stane Street – now the A29 – the mansio was at the heart of a much larger community. Time Team ambitiously set out to uncover the story of the whole settlement.
As trenches were opened over a 600-metre-square expanse of land, the archaeologists uncovered structures and finds suggesting that Alfoldean was once a thriving village, but that it suddenly fell out of use halfway through the Roman occupation of Britain.
Atrocious weather and the sheer scale of the site pushed the Team's resources to the limit. But with the help of a local school's archaeology students and some heroic work by Phil Harding and the diggers, Time Team revealed some remarkable details of a settlement that exemplified Rome's ruthlessly efficient control of Britain's resources.
Watched the programme, browsed the web pages? Now try our quick quiz to see how you get on.
The word 'mansio' comes from the Latin 'mansus', from the verb 'manere'. What does 'manere' mean?
To pass by
To stay
To sleep
The 'cursus publicus' was started by the emperor Augustus. What was it?
A courier system for sending official messages
A network of inns throughout the empire
A system of tax collection
The Roman mansio catered generally for what kind of traveller?
Soldiers
Salesmen
Imperial officials
What were 'mutationes'?
Changing stations serving vehicles and animals
Blacksmiths who changed horses' shoes
Money changers who worked with tax collectors
By using the network of way stations along his route, the emperor Tiberius was able to cover 500 miles without stopping to get to his brother, Drusus, when he heard that he was dying of gangrene after a fall from a horse. How long was his journey reported to have taken?
One week
Two days
24 hours
As well as the 'mansio', travellers in the Roman empire might also stop at a 'taberna' or 'caupona'. Why might a respectable traveller want to avoid a 'caupona'?
They were frequented by prostitutes and thieves
They were badly built and often collapsed
They were barns also used for cattle or chickens
Answers here.
In the week that this programme was first screened, a drought order came into effect covering most of south-east England. But when Time Team visited Alfoldean, in West Sussex, the previous year the excavations took place in heavy rain that almost washed out the dig altogether. The water settled on the heavy clay, and any attempt at digging churned up the surface into a thick, cloying mud that all but obliterated the underlying archaeology under a uniform brown sludge.
Not to be deterred, Phil Harding and the other diggers worked around the worst that the elements could throw at them. And with the help of some of the clearest – and most extensive – geophysics survey results ever achieved on Time Team, they were able to get a detailed picture of what the site was like in Roman times.
The site at Alfoldean, where the former Roman road, Stane Street (now the A29), crosses the river Arun, had long been known as having a significant Roman presence. First excavated in the 1920s by the classicist Samuel Edward Winbolt, it has yielded many finds since – and was the subject of a report that won local enthusiast Mike Duke the Young Archaeologist of the Year award in 1981 (an award for which Time Team expert Miles Russell also entered but failed to be short listed). Mike was to return to the site many times over the next 25 years, and there have been several fieldwalking surveys carried out, but no one apart from Samuel Winbolt had actually excavated there until Time Team was called in.
The first thing the Team's experts did was to dismiss Winbolt's interpretation of the site as a military staging post, with a major structure that he described as being 'officers' quarters'. Instead, it was generally agreed that all the evidence pointed towards this being the site of a 'mansio' – a stopping place for officials of the Roman empire or travellers on imperial business.
Winbolt's assessment of the site as a military camp had been influenced by the fact that it was surrounded by two large rectangular ditches and a rampart. Time Team's excavations revealed just how large these were. Each ditch turned out to be as much as four metres wide and four metres deep – with the rampart as high again. The construction of these huge defensive structures was dated to around 90 AD by pottery finds from sealed contexts that hadn't been disturbed since the ditches and ramparts were first built. Time Team was also able to put a date on when they went out of use, because the excavation revealed that the ditches had been filled in with a mixture of earth and rubbish, including large quantities of pottery, none of which dated from later than the early or middle of the third century AD.
Although they were massive in scale, and clearly served an important protective function, the absence of finds associated with the Roman army meant that the perimeter defences were definitely not military. Time Team's experts determined that the most likely function of the site was that it served as a centre for tax collection and a sort of customs post, controlling the iron industry based in the Weald. Located at the strategically important crossing of Stane Street and the river Arun, it would have been a major staging post on the route from Chichester to London. It fell out of use in the middle of the third century AD at the same time as the decline in the iron industry locally.
Excavation of the mansio itself uncovered evidence of what would have been quite a grand structure. Fragments of painted wall plaster gave a hint of its interior decoration, while the size of the wall foundations excavated by Phil suggested that it would have been a two-storey building. Other finds, including limescale-encrusted tiles, revealed that there would have been at least one bath house on the site. And the geophysics survey results, confirmed by trenches dug to identify the lines of key walls, enabled the Team to draw up a detailed floor plan of the building – which was erected around a courtyard, with large numbers of associated structures stretching over a 600-metre-square area.
Outside the ditches, further geophysics surveys revealed an extensive settlement that pre-dated the mansio, with pits, ditches, trackways and even a roundhouse, which Miles Russell thought at first might be a Roman mausoleum, showing up clearly. The roundhouse appeared to have been abandoned when the mansio site was built and the great ditches cut through its land. What appeared to be a Roman cremation urn was uncovered adjacent to where it once stood, suggesting that the site was later reused for burials.
The massive ditches around the site at Alfoldean didn't just enclose just the mansio, but a whole complex of buildings that would have served Roman officials and traders as they travelled the country. Horses provided one of the most important and fastest means of transport over land, so one of the key facilities would have been the blacksmith's. And one of his key jobs would have been the manufacture of what is believed to have been the precursor of the modern horseshoe: the hippo sandal.
For this programme, Time Team called on farrier Cliff Barnes to recreate a hippo sandal, using a design based on various Roman finds. With the help of some of the pupils from the nearby Christ Hospital School and the use of its fully equipped forge, Cliff set to work on making a modern replica of the Roman shoe. Time Team also decided to test it on a horse to see how practical it would have been – surprisingly, something that had not been done before.
What was your experience in making horseshoes before doing Time Team?
I have been a qualified farrier for the last 13 years. I spent the five years previous to that training to be a farrier. This obviously involves the making of all modern types of horse shoes.
What was the aim of the cameo?
The aim was to actually make and fit some hippo sandals and to see how or why they would have been used.
What materials did you use?
I used mild steel for the reconstruction. The Romans would have originally used wrought iron, which would have been a lot more malleable to work with.
How did you make the shoe?
I managed to get up to the British Museum beforehand and I managed to get up close and personal with some examples there so that I would have a better idea of how to go about it. I took a plate of mild steel and forged it down into a nice triangular shape and then turned a loop on the front. Then the wings on the side had to be formed and welded on the top and bottom.
What was the hardest part of the task?
It's difficult to pinpoint one aspect but probably fire welding the various parts together was the most difficult. Wrought iron would have been much easier to fire weld.
Did you learn anything by doing the reconstruction?
I don't think you would want to work a horse over a long distance wearing these shoes – you certainly wouldn't want to pull a heavy load. Turning would be very difficult with the loop at the front and wings – the horse would probably stab itself with them. The only use I can think of for them is a veterinary purpose – to hold a poultice in place, or something like that. I certainly feel it confirms that the shoes were not for everyday use, but more trials are needed to confirm their use.
If you did it again would you do it differently?
I would love to try to make them in wrought iron but it is difficult to get hold of.
Are there any other reconstructions you would like to try?
I would like to see how the hippo sandals would work in the snow … Also maybe make some Celtic shoes and nails. These are the first recorded attempts to nail on horse shoes.
The mansio and other sites in the south-eastern sector of Caesaromagus by PJ Drury (Chelmsford Archaeological Trust Report, 1990), £10
One of the few excavations of a mansion in Britain is covered in this 1990 report from the Chelmsford Archaeological Trust.
Roman Britain by Tim Potter and Catherine Johns ('Exploring the Roman World' series, British Museum Publications, 1992) hardback £19.95; paperback £12.99
A survey of the effects of Roman culture on Britain and its people, by two British Museum curators. Includes evidence from the latest archaeological discoveries, including the Vindolanda writing tablets and the Thetford and Snettisham treasures, as well as a gazetteer of noteworthy sites to visit.
Roman Britain by T W Potter (British Museum Press, 1983, 2nd edition 1997) paperback £8.99
The four centuries during which the Roman presence in Britain rose, flourished and declined changed every aspect of life: industry, trade, government, the arts and learning. This book gives an illustrated outline of the period.
Roman Britain by Martin Millett (English Heritage, 1995) paperback £15.99
Making full use of the archaeological material available, this introductory study of four centuries of Roman presence in Britain explores the central themes of daily life, laying particular emphasis on the social, economic and cultural history.
Life in Roman Britain by Joan Alcock (Batsford/English Heritage, 1996) paperback £15.99
An excellent social history of life in Roman Britain covering food and drink, clothing, recreation, administration and religion. Richly illustrated.
Companion to Roman Britain by Guy de la Bédoyère (Tempus, 1999) hardback £25
This book is a comprehensive compilation of historical and epigraphic facts about Roman Britain and seeks to set the record straight about where facts end and opinions begin. Includes a complete breakdown of all military units, when and where they were stationed and so on, together with details of buildings, officials, administration and the first full list of the Gods of Roman Britain.
An Atlas of Roman Britain by Barri Jones and David Mattingly (Blackwell, 1993, 2001 edition) paperback £15.99
An amazing accumulation of archaeological evidence has been used to map every aspect of Roman life on a countrywide scale, including the distribution of Roman forts, towns, villas, potteries and quarries. Lots of additional plans and useful descriptions on each topic.
For links to other websites, either on archaeology generally or specific to the periods and subjects raised in the programme, see our extensive section on Archaeology websites. In particular, see the section on The Roman era.
The word 'mansio' comes from the Latin 'mansus', from the verb 'manere'. What does 'manere' mean?
To stay
The 'cursus publicus' was started by the emperor Augustus. What was it?
A courier system for sending official messages
The Roman mansio catered generally for what kind of traveller? Imperial officials
What were 'mutationes'?
Changing stations serving vehicles and animals
By using the network of way stations along his route, the emperor Tiberius was able to cover 500 miles without stopping to get to his brother, Drusus, when he heard that he was dying of gangrene after a fall from a horse. How long was his journey reported to have taken?
24 hours
As well as the 'mansio', travellers in the Roman empire might also stop at a 'taberna' or 'caupona'. Why might a respectable traveller want to avoid a 'caupona'?
They were frequented by prostitutes and thieves