ENN104260 - Proposed Processing Plant, 2006 (Desk Based Assessment)

In February 2006 Archaeological Solutions carried out a desk-based assessment on land at the proposed processing plant, Elton Estate, Warmington, Northamptonshire (NGR TL 081 922). The assessment site contains cropmarks that have been interpreted as prehistoric trackways, boundaries and enclosure. These features may prove to be part of a prehistoric landscape of some significance. It is possible that they may be related to Neolithic activity, which is evidenced in the area by a burial cairn containing at least five different individuals, or to a number of other cropmark features that have been interpreted as Bronze Age ring ditches and barrows. Due to its proximity to Durobrivae it is possible that the population of this area became heavily Romanised. This Roman cultural influence appears to give way to a fairly dominant Saxon presence that can be seen to link right through to the modern era. A possible Saxon settlement is listed by the Northamptonshire SMR within the assessment site. It would appear that during the medieval and post-medieval periods the area of the assessment site has been used for agricultural purposes, likely cereal cultivation, and remained undeveloped until the construction of the A605 bypass which forms the south-eastern boundary of the site.