ENN110414 - St Mary's Court, 2021 (Excavation)

The archaeological works identified early medieval waste pits that would have been located on open ground within the northern defences of the Saxon Burh. This was followed by a period of quarrying for ironstone during the 11th century AD. The site was likely then divided into tenement plots aligned off Horsemarket and Castle Street that would remain as permanent boundaries and were depicted on later maps. Within the rear of the plots were large waste and cess pits. During the 12th and 13th centuries the site changes with the construction of a stone building, stone lined pits and ovens. A stone lined soakaway in the north of the site may have drain water from a roof of a building outside of the excavation. During the post-medieval period the urban expansion of Northampton saw the frontages along Horsemarket and Castle Street become formalised with stone buildings, wells and out houses that extended into the rear plots. A large fire saw the destruction of a building in the south of the area that was rebuilt. Further infilling of the open areas occurred during Northampton’s population increase in the late post-medieval period. Many of the buildings underwent modifications and survived into the modern period when the site was cleared for redevelopment during the mid-20th century. The flats and garages that were constructed were demolished prior to the archaeological investigation and the foundations belonging to them had removed portions of the earlier remains.