Roman road rumours at Shropshire village homes site
Archaeologists have been called in to dig test trenches at the site of a planned housing development near Shrewsbury – amid rumours that a Roman road could lie underneath the site.
Developers Shropshire Homes Ltd has called in the experts to investigate the three acre site at Mary Webb Road, off Pulley Lane in Bayston Hill.
They have spent the past four weeks digging test trenches in a number of locations on the site, but as yet have not made any startling discoveries.
Rumours about an ancient road have existed in the area for years. The site is on the same trajectory as the area's main Roman road which ran from Wroxeter to Forden.
Diggers have been involved in the excavation with the finer work being carried out by hand.
So far a cobbled area, with straight even sides and a ditch running alongside, has been found.
Andy Wigley, landscape archaeologist for Shropshire Council, who also works on the Shropshire Historic Landscape Characterisation (HLC) Project, said: "Until our team at the Pulley Lane site has finished I don't think it would be fair to comment on what has or hasn't been found.
"This is a fairly standard planning process archaeological evaluation to create a report which will be submitted to the planning authority in due course.
"There is, however, a line on a historical document which shows there might be something on the site."
Howard Thorne, managing director of Shropshire Homes Ltd, said: "We are aware the old Roman road ran in the vicinity of the site and we are not sure of the location.
"Therefore we are carrying out a full investigation. Indications at this time do not show the road crossed the site."
Shropshire Homes Ltd has applied for planning permission to build 34 affordable homes on the site.
If approved, the homes would all be managed by the Wrekin Housing Trust as affordable accommodation.
The plans are still under council consideration.
If an ancient road is discovered it would not be the first in the area.
An Iron Age road was found to the west of the site, at Bayston Hill Quarry in 2009.
Quarry operations were about to destroy a 400 metre stretch of the road, and archaeologists were called in and had the chance to study an excavated section.
The road was six metres wide, built on a hardcore and clay foundation, and cobbled with stones from the River Severn.
It has been dated to the first century BC, pre-dating the Roman invasion by about 100 years.
And when the new A5 link road from the Wroxeter roundabout to the Bayston Hill roundabout was being built in the late 1980s evidence of a Roman road was found.
