ENN108147 - Land at Earls Barton, 2016 (Excavation)

{1} The investigations were focused on a Bronze Age ring-ditch and an Iron Age/Roman settlement that lay c. 250m to the east. {3} Open area excavation took place in advance of development in an area of known archaeological activity. This revealed a settlement which originated as a single, sub-rectangular middle Iron Age enclosure and continued in use until the mid 1st-century when it was encompassed within a more complex system of enclosures. The Roman settlement continued to be occupied until the end of the 4th century. It probably covered c3ha (including those parts beyond the development area) and comprised a series of adjacent sub-rectangular enclosures; given their form in plan, they can be described as a 'ladder system'. Two Roman drying kilns were found, while a third is known from the 2001 investigations. They were all of the common, T-shaped form. The sides of one were mainly of limestone, while the other was dug into the ironstone bedrock and, therefore, did not need to be lined.