ENN105987 - St. John's Car Park, 2012 (DBA)

The University of Northampton proposes to construct student accommodation with the parcel of land currently occupied by St John's Car Park, St John's Lane, Northampton. The site lies within the defences of the historic medieval town of Northampton, which was the most important medieval centre in the wider region. This desk-based assessment has therefore been undertaken to assess the potential for buried archaeological remains within the site and will be submitted in support of the planning application for the scheme. The assessment concluded that there is little evidence and potential for buried remains prior to the medieval period within the site. The most archaeological potential relates to buried remains associated with the medieval town of Northampton. The site lay within the precinct of the Hospital of St John's, founded in 1139. The principal buildings within the precinct probably lay outside of the site area, which was otherwise peripheral to the main areas of settlement and activity within the medieval town. St John's Street and Swan Lane follow the lie of streets within the medieval town. However archaeological investigations nearby have shown there is some potential for medieval buildings and a greater potential for remains associated with peripheral settlement activity such as quarrying, industry, horticulture and rubbish disposal. In the post-medieval period the site was unoccupied and subdivided into small closes, used for orchards, gardens and horticulture within St John's Precinct. In the 1870s an embankment and turntable for the Midland Line was constructed across the southern portions of the site, in the later case probably disturbing any buried archaeological remains that might otherwise have survived. Terraced housing was subsequently built across the site, some of which was provided with cellars that will have removed all but the deepest archaeological remains. Borehole data indicates up to c.5m of 'made' ground above geology indicating that any archaeological remains may be deeply buried and masked below thick deposits of demolitions rubble.