The village of Burgh-by-Sands, situated on the line of Hadrian’s Wall and Vallum, has a diverse archaeological history. The Roman remains within the village have been the focus of many studies since the mid nineteenth century. Until recently, these gave the Roman fort and its associated extramural settlement an enigmatic quality as no modern open area excavations had been undertaken. The precise line of the Vallum has been confirmed at both ends of the village during excavations carried out by the Central Excavation Unit between 1978 and 1989. However the exact line of the Vallum inside the village has hitherto not been confirmed.

In September 2007, North Pennines Archaeology Ltd undertook a rapid archaeological desk–based assessment and watching brief, in advance of the erection of an extension at Rosemount Cottage, Burgh by Sands. The study area lay within a landscape of high significance, within a designated conservation area and also within the Hadrian’s Wall World Heritage Site. The archaeological watching brief was carried out at Rosemount Cottage over a period of two consecutive days, observing all intrusive groundwork involved in the construction of two small extensions to the northwest and southwest of the property.

The earliest feature identified during the watching brief was a probable Roman ditch. The location and dimensions of this ditch suggest that this feature was the defensive ditch associated with Hadrian’s Wall. A Roman shoe was recovered from the primary fill of this feature. This consisted of the outer sole unit, inner sole, two fragments of upper, the heel, and a well-preserved heel stiffener of a left shoe. A Roman construction block, of unknown purpose, was also recovered from Trench 1, which has remained with the client.

Organic remains from the primary ditch fill were sampled and suggest that this was an open feature, probably located close cultivated land, and/or woodland margins, in the Roman period. The environmental evidence supported the interpretation that this was the Roman defensive ditch associated with Hadrian’s Wall.

A wall and cobble surface were also identified and were dated to the post-medieval period on the basis of historic Ordnance Survey maps. All other finds recovered were post-medieval in date, with the exception of a residual sherd of medieval pottery.

During May 2007, North Pennines Archaeology Ltd also undertook an archaeological field evaluation on land at Marsh House, Burgh-By-Sands, prior to a residential development at the site. Marsh House lies in an archaeologically sensitive area and is located within the visual envelope of Hadrian’s Wall and Vallum. As a result, an archaeological evaluation was required, the focus of the evaluation being to assess the projected location of the Vallum, which has been depicted by the Ordnance Survey as running through the proposed development site on an east-west alignment.

Four evaluation trenches were excavated, two to the north of Marsh House, and two to the south of the house. The results of the evaluation failed to locate the Vallum or any of its associated features (South and North Mounds, etc) within the evaluation trenches. However, the evaluation did reveal substantial and well-preserved deposits of archaeological significance dating from the Roman period to the post-medieval period. The archaeological evidence for the Roman period comprised a possible defensive or boundary ditch, from which Roman pottery dating from the mid second century was recovered. It was also evident that the ditch remained open as a landscape feature at least until the medieval period as the upper fills of the ditch yielded a number of pottery sherds dating from the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries.

The post-medieval period was largely characterised by a sequence of shallow linear ditches and pits, which appear to pertain to agricultural activity which show evolving land boundaries. Also a number of field drains were excavated which show that the land suffered from drainage problems. The final two trenches failed to locate any significant archaeological deposits or features.

The analysis of this data from both sites will inevitably provide new and important information for the Roman occupation of Burgh-By-Sands, which may be amalgamated with the body of evidence that has already been compiled, to produce a much-enhanced picture of the land surrounding the fort and associated civilian vicus. It also has the opportunity to reassess the location of the Vallum within Burgh-by-Sands.