ULAS
University of Leicester Archaeological Services

Vine St, Leicester - a Roman town house

The Vine Street site was dug between 2004 and 2006 and, at 6,500 square metres, is the single largest excavation ever undertaken within the city. This aerial photograph shows the site in the foreground, with the graveyard of All Saints’ Church to the right.

In the 19th-century, part of a Roman mosaic pavement was discovered on Vine Street, suggesting a major building in the vicinity. The site was also believed to be that of the lost medieval church of St. Michael, demolished in the 15th century.

The excavations have revealed a substantial Roman townhouse at the junction of two streets. It is of courtyard plan, and measures about 40m by 38m. The house probably started life as two strip buildings of the 2nd century AD fronting on to each of the streets, which were then linked together during a major building phase that extended the west wing to the north, and added a north and east wing. All these wings had corridors surrounding a central courtyard.

On the east side of the house, a semi-detached range of the building contained a bath suite, represented by this hypocaust (underfloor heating system) and a probable plunge pool. The north wing included an apsidal room, suggestive of a triclinium (dining room), whilst other rooms of this range were clearly heated, as indicated by remnants of the robbed hypocaust flues.

A projecting north-south orientated range seems to have been added at some point to the north wing and the presence of hypocausts may suggest that this represents another bath suite.

Most of the walls of the building had been robbed of their stone in the medieval period. Some fragments of flooring survived, including this tessellated pavement from a corridor.

Evidence for prolonged use of one of the corner rooms of the house for industrial processes, including smithing, and bone working elsewhere has led to the suggestion that the status of the building declined in later periods. However, another possibility is that some of the rooms on the frontage were always used for commercial or industrial activity, with residential rooms behind.

A rectangular structure to the east of the house may have been a large public building, based on the massive size of its walls.

Click here to see reconstruction drawings of the Vine Street Roman buildings.

Buried savings:-

In the east wing of the house, several dispersed coin hoards, deposited in around AD 341, were discovered buried inside one of the rooms and appeared to have been disturbed in antiquity perhaps during digging to retrieve hoarded items of greater value. In an adjacent room, a lead ingot had been deliberately buried and covered over with roofing slates.

Curse those who have stolen my cloak…

This flat piece of lead found on the site is a Roman ‘curse’, and bears a latin cursive text asking a god to punish those who have stolen a cloak.

Right is a lead seal of the twentieth legion –
L(egio) XX, used to seal official documents or consignments of goods.

Medieval Vine Street

The archaeological evidence appears to confirm the presence of at least two medieval lanes running under and along the same alignments as the modern roads of Elbow Lane and Grape Street. There is also the possibility that a third lane was found under Vine Street running south from Elbow Lane to join Grape Street. The streets appear to comprise a first phase of small pebble metalled surface, to be replaced by a second phase consisting of rough cobble surface.

All three lanes have to some extent protected the underlying Roman deposits from truncation with the best preserved remains such as workshop floors, a tessellated floor and the two hoards have all been found directly under the alignment of these streets.

A light scatter of medieval pits and wells have been found either side of the streets suggesting possible backyard activities associated with buildings fronting on to these streets. The evidence of the structures found were ephemeral with the only occasional post hole and beam slot surviving. A large medieval boundary ditch was found to the north of Elbow Lane and it appears to have respected the sharp bend in that lane, which along with the metal surfaces may help confirm its medieval origins.

A major medieval cemetery, which contained 300 burials, was found on the eastern side of the excavation site and its boundaries were probably defined by the three medieval lanes of Elbow Lane to the north, Vine Street to the west and Grape Street to the south.

The cemetery is thought to be associated with the lost church of St Michael’s, but only fragmentary medieval structures were found within the cemetery. It is at present unclear as to whether these structures represent the remains of the church.

The majority of the medieval features including the robbing of the Roman walls all appear to date from the 1200s to the 1450s. Any finds and features dating from after the 15th century to the 18th centuries were sparse in number across the whole site. This absence of post medieval activities is reflective of our historical records and understanding, which suggests that the town had a declining population in the 14th and 15th centuries. The decline in the population had probably led to the closure and then demolition of St Michael’s Church by the 1450s.

A thick deposit of garden soil had accumulated over the medieval features and suggests that this area of the town had reverted to mostly horticultural activities during the post medieval period. Historical records state that a parcel of ground or croft called St Michael’s Churchyard was sold to All Saints Church in the late 16th century to be used as an extension to their graveyard. Excavations of the some of burials are suggestive of this possible 16th century re-use. Some of the later burials appear to be on different alignments when compared with earlier burials, and post date the possible abandoned churchyard as they cut into medieval road surfaces and demolished structures.

The site was excavated between 2004 and 2006, and the fieldwork was directed by Tim Higgins.