Monument record MDR15812 - Roman building, 'Amber Valley Coin Hoard site', near Ripley

Following the discovery of a Roman coin hoard in 2010 and most of the hoard's careful extraction, excavation was taken place to determine the context of the hoard. Preliminary work by Derby Museum to extract the coins left two clear 'coin pits'. Excavation by Derbyshire Archaeological Society investigated the surrounding site. Below the topsoil was a dark soil horizon containing broken sandstone, building debris and sparse Roman pottery. Below this, a tightly packed 'platform' of sandstone was covered with Roman brick, tile and pieces of slaked and part-burnt lime. Further Roman coins were uncovered. To the north end of the trench, a layer of fallen or redeposited Roman wall plaster with two pits, where almost 1000 coins were recovered from this area alone. With this were Roman roof tile, Samian, Nene Valley and Derbyshire ware pottery, sherds of a large grey storage jar with lattice decoration and fragments of a grog-tempered storage jar. Once the building material was removed, a beaten earth floor made of local clays containing much 'gritty material', some fragments of trodden-in pottery, burnt wood and a large piece of the same storage jar mentioned earlier. A small iron key and L-shaped bit were also uncovered in this context. To the south, a north-south running furrow was cutting the above strata and just into the top of the earth floor. It contained coins, large pot sherds, including another large greyware jar, Derbyshire and late Nene Valley ware, tile and loosened cobbles. Some large millstone grit stones were revealed, apparently forming a wall base. The coins uncovered over the whole trench ranged in date from Hadrian to the mid-4th century. It appears that the site was a longer-lived site than other hoard sites in Derbyshire- an important building or building complex with links to Blackbrook, Hazelwood and Pentrich Fort. It cannot be determined if the coins were used for commercial purposes and stored for safety, or stockpiled for melting down, or placed as a deposit for someone or something. (1)