Normangate Field is the site of one of the largest industrial areas of Roman Britain and was located on the outskirts of the Roman town of Durobrivae, just over the river.
An air photograph of the regular layout of the Roman industrial plots in the area of Normangate Field. Photo by Ailsworth and Castor Parish Council. Touch the image to zoom into it.
With pottery kilns, iron works, blacksmiths, and food stalls this area would have been busy with people and activity, noisy with the sounds of industry, and very smelly with fumes from the furnaces. The pottery kilns were producing Nene Valley Pottery which had a very distinctive design.
Roman pottery found at Normangate Field. Illustration by Evie Godfrey.
The hustle and bustle of industry served the Romans well, as goods could be transported up and down the country, via Ermine Street, and across the country using boats on the River Nene.
Artis and his workmen excavating a pottery kiln in Normangate Field Castor in the 1820s.
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