Chester House Estate to host free festival of all things Roman after ancient pots found on site

The festival on Saturday (June 22) and Sunday (June 23) will be in partnership with the University of Leicester’s Heritage Hub, as one of its students recently unearthed six complete Samian Ware items of crockery, and follows a well-received event in 2023.

Sarah Scott, professor of archaeology, at the University of Leicester’s School of Archaeology and Ancient History, said: “The University of Leicester Heritage Hub is delighted to be working with the Chester House Estate to deliver this exciting event.

"This year, alongside our extensive plans for the Irchester Field School excavation, the team have expanded our offering at Roman Fest.

“In addition to popular favourites last year, visitors now have a chance to learn the basics of osteoarchaeology (the study of human bones) how to determine the height, age and sex from a skeleton with PhD students and volunteers researching collections at the ARC.

“Visitors can also look at archaeological objects with microscopes, taking place in a pop-up Archaeological Laboratory run by University of Leicester School of Archaeology and Ancient History.”

From 10am to 4pm on both days, there will be stalls from more than 20 local museums and community archaeology groups and archaeological companies from Northamptonshire and beyond will provide the opportunity for real Roman artefacts to be handled, and historic demonstrations of ancient weaving, spinning, loom and nalbinding techniques will be available to see.

Chester House is also showcasing a pop-up exhibition of artwork by Northampton College students, inspired by the Romans and objects within the onsite Northamptonshire Archaeological Resource Centre.

The Chester House Estate is a nationally significant heritage site, being one of the few places in the country which can demonstrate more than 10,000 years of human activity.

Tickets can be booked here, and it is recommended that visitors book in advance due to high demand.

Free parking is also available at the site’s Claudius Way car park, as the A45 entrance will strictly be for blue badge holders only.