Uxacona

 archaeological site, Roman Empire, invisible, scheduled ancient monument

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The monument, which falls into three areas of protection, includes parts of a small Roman town, a section of the Roman road known as Watling Street, and a mansio known collectively as 'Uxacona' or "the high place". It is situated on the crest of a prominent hill, overlooking the Shropshire Plain. The part of the town, road and mansio survive as entirely buried structures and deposits which are visible on aerial photographs as crop and soil marks and have been confirmed through partial excavation, field walking and geophysical surveys. The mansio, which was first recorded in 1953, straddles the road and is visible on aerial photographs as a round-cornered ditched enclosure. Excavations in 1959-62 showed it measured approximately 61m long by 53.3m wide and had a wide and robbed defensive outer wall with the foundations for a substantial gate tower. Further excavations in 1973 confirmed a 6m wide berm and a 3.2m wide and 1.8m deep U-shaped profile ditch surrounded the enclosure. Field walking in 1972-3 as well as the excavations produced Samian and coarse pottery including sherds from a mortarium from Verulamium suggesting occupation dates for the 4th century. The surrounding small town was also confirmed by excavations and field walking and extended to the north and south of Watling Street. These suggested continuous occupation of the town from the 1st to 5th centuries and this included a fragmentary timber and clay built 1st century building. Watling Street still lies partially beneath the present road surface but, where exposed by excavation, was found to be composed of small cobbles mixed with pottery, above cobbles and overlying the natural geology. Ditches marked the side of the road which was up to 10m wide. Further archaeological remains survive in the immediate vicinity some of which are scheduled separately.
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