ENN110321 - 1a London End, Irchester, 2021 (Excavation)

The discovery of a medieval causeway alongside the former course of a brook and in proximity to a medieval manorial centre. A unique survival in the rear garden of a 17th century cottage. The structural evidence comprised a metalled, raised route-way that was in use from the 13th century through to at least the 14th / 15th century, with three distinct phases of construction and suspected evidence of structural damage as a result of severe weather conditions during the medieval climatic anomaly. The causeway originated in the late 13th century as a raised track-way of cobbles set in clay, and flanked by a ditch. A more robust causeway of pitched limestone slabs and kerbing was built over it in the 13th / 14th century. In the same period the causeway appeared to have suffered severe erosion and subsequently underwent significant repair and widening. During the 14th / 15th century during there was a natural accumulation of soil on either side. By the 16th century, when a stone-lined drain was built through the structure, it was possibly no more than an earthwork. Exploration of the historic landscape context of the causeway - its spatial relationship with the manorial complex and its possible route - suggests that it may have been a trade route. It is further hypothesised that the causeway’s construction may well have been a direct response to severe climatic anomalies of the period. The evidence thus has the following research interests/themes: Medieval road construction Local/ regional trade routes The Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA).