Excavation at Lock Cottage, Bollands Hill, Seend, Wiltshire

A trench was excavated to see if the Roman iron roasting ovens excavated in 2022 extended further across the structure Trench 7 was opened a short distance to the south of Trench 4 to confirm what had been found in the first excavation and to see if any other activity, such as iron smelting, had been taken place. This excavation confirmed that the ditch of the feature surrounded a Romano-British iron processing workshop. A number of iron ore roasting ovens were located at each end of the structure, either side of a hardened clay floor. The presence of post pads on this floor suggests that this area may have been roofed. The roof would have helped to keep the charcoal and iron ore dry until it was placed in a hearth for firing. No evidence of iron smelting was found. The type of pottery found in the levels above the roasting hearths, and the presence of floor tiles and pennant tiles, suggest that at some point a building where people were living was located in the near. vicinity. This may have been when the iron ore roasting was ended, possibly because the quality of the ore was found to be good enough that it did not need to be roasted before it was put into a furnace to be smelted.