COULD there be a Roman settlement buried under a Huddersfield wood?
Archaeology enthusiast Stephen Priest, of Aspley, believes Grimescar Wood, near Birkby, could hide an ancient secret.
A kiln from around 100AD was first found by colliers in 1580 and then rediscovered in 1955 by school pupils.
Indeed an archaeological dig in 1964 uncovered ancient bowls, flagons and jars.
But Mr Priest, a retired optician, believes an associated settlement lies a stone’s throw from the pottery factory.
The site lies just off the York to Chester Roman Road near Slack Roman Fort, Outlane.
Now Stephen is looking for help to start an excavation of the site adjacent to the kiln.
Mr Priest, 58, said: “In winter you can see an outline of where the settlement was.
“I’m sure it deserves a full excavation. It’s highly likely there’s a settlement associated with the kiln. But we won’t know until it’s excavated.
“I hope people from the original dig can get involved.
“I imagine there could be work buildings, storage buildings and animal pounds. They’ll almost certainly be some pottery.
“If we could get Channel 4’s Time Team involved that would be fantastic.”
Granville Clay, Fieldwork Coordinator of Huddersfield and District Archaeological Society, said: “The site is in our records.
“We’ve considered it, but at the moment we’re concentrating on Slack Fort, Outlane, where we are uncovering some fascinating stuff.
“The site at Grimescar was likely to have been occupied by people operating the kiln. There could even be another furnace.
“It’s quite likely there’s something there and it’s a site we have interest in. We’d be happy to conduct an examination in the future and we will be pleased if Mr Priest finds some more information.”
If you can help Stephen call: 07932 658569.
