Ashley, Northamptonshire

An Iron Age and Romano-British settlement near the River Welland in North Northamptonshire, close to the Roman road Via Devana linking Leicester to Cambridge. Excavations in 1969-71 revealed a succession of Iron Age circular huts bounded by a large ditch, replaced by 2nd-century Roman timber buildings. A 3rd-4th century stone villa with a tessellated floor and limestone colonnade was later uncovered, along with a late 3rd-century coin hoard.