Introduction

Pleasley Vale has its very own Roman Villa. The site is situated to the left-hand side off Common Lane on farmland just before the descent into the vale. The first indication of a Roman link to this area was c1770 at Stuffynwood where a silver coin hoard was found. More on that later but the discovery & first excavation of the villa site was in 1786 by Major Hayman Rooke after a farmer approached him with tiny mosaic tiles. Major Rooke was an experienced antiquarian who retired to Mansfield Woodhouse after a career in the army. The 'Major' Oak was named in his honour for the archeological work he conducted in the Sherwood area where his thorough excavations recorded historical eathworks before they were erased under land development and ever-increasing urbanisation. At Northfield, his team revealed the ashes of wooden buildings, built, rebuilt & extended on the same site from around 80AD. The dating of Roman settlements are made by pottery identification in the compacted layers of rubbish thrown into ditches. They also discovered a larger stone structure dated to around 180AD. This stone built complex had a typical Roman inner courtyard and outer compound that was very likely central to a large farming estate. The best workable farmland had probably been cleared of trees long before by Neolithic through to Iron-age farmers, subsequently, the fertile, self-draining land around Northfield was likely to have been farmed by Celtic farmers prior to the Roman settlement. The region was still within the heavily wooded Sherwood Forest, as suggested by the post-Roman naming of Woodhouse by Anglo-Saxons, interpreted as 'house in the woods'. Similarly, using the suffix 'field' we can determine the farm clearings that developed into settlements as in Mansfield & Ashfield. The suffix' ley' describes a 'clearing in the woods' that is probably more relevant to an ancient road junction in the case of Pleasley. A legion of between 4000 and 6000 soldiers were recorded at Pleasley in 138AD - the year of a major Brigantes revolt. The high ground, north side of the river Meden was the likely site of their fortified temporary camp although any remains of fortified earthworks are not apparent. An archaeological excavation by Sheffield University along Longhedge Lane, bordering the site of Pleasley Colliery, has revealed Roman road construction.

This website will look into the social & political aspects of roman Britain to help put into context what it was like to live at Northfield detached from the main settlements of the Trent Valley. The road connections, soils and abundant mineral sources of the Pennines are also important factors to its location that need considering. We'll be looking into other Roman settlements in the area and the circumstances surrounding those local coin hoards that were never retrieved by their owners! I can only think of one circumstance for me burying but not returning to collect my life savings from the roots of a tree and its nothing to do with Northern Rock! Read on............