Monument record 3929/2 - Site of Saxon settlement and ironworking

Archaeological investigation during the construction of the A43 Corby Link Road identified a dispersed area of early middle Saxon settlement and iron working. The site comprised at least ten rectangular structures, with a main group of eight set within four plots. Evidence of a possible loom was found in one of the buildings. Associated with the settlement was a quarry pit, used to exploit a seam of iron ore. Ore-roasting pits and a furnace were also found.

{1} An unexpectedly low number of the geophysical anomalies in Field 3 were subsequently identified as features by excavation. This suggests that there are few, if any, subsoil features associated with the surface scatters of early medieval pottery in this field. Surface slag in Field 3 was not associated with any iron working furnaces or hearths which could be identified in the geophysical survey or trial trenching.

{2, 3} Archaeological excavation ahead of construction of the A43 Corby link Road identified a series of at least ten early middle Saxon buildings, the majority of which were discovered on the lower slopes of the tributary valley to the south of Harpers Brook. Typical of earlier Saxon occupation the buildings were widely scattered and almost certainly extend across the whole of this valley slope. The main group of eight buildings were possibly set within four plots along a 100m stretch. Two structural forms were observed: sunken floors and timber frames. The largest sunken floor building contained internal features cut into the floor, which together with loomweight and spindle whorls indicates that weaving was undertaken. The site was located with iron rich Northampton Sandstone underfoot and with the plentiful charcoal available, it was also a site for small scale ironworking with a quarries dug to exploit a seam of iron ore and nearby ore-roasting pits and a smelting furnace. An elongated shallow feature was a further possible kiln/furnace. Two inhumation burials were also found. The remains of a badly plough-damaged adult male lay to the south of the furnace and a further badly plough-damaged individual lay within one of the buildings.

{4} An early Bronze Age pit was also discovered in this area. It contained a semi-complete collared urn and rim fragments from another similar made vessel. An archaeometallurgical analysis was undertaken. The structure of the Saxon furnace, with its basal chamber set in a steep-sided pit and with its furnace arch set below the contemporary ground level within this pit, places it in the 'Wakerley-type'.

<1> Upson-Smith T., 2005, A43 Corby Link Road: NGR SP861833 to 910872, Archaeological Geophysical Survey and Trial Excavation, p.14 (checked) (Report). SNN105624.

<2> Brown, J., The A43 Corby Link Road: Archaeological works conducted by Northamptonshire Archaeology (Lecture Notes). SNN111495.

<3> Brown, J, Markus, S, and Morris, S, 2019, An archaeological assessment and updated project design for the A43 Corby Link Road, Northamptonshire, June 2012-October 2013 (Report). SNN113099.

<4> Morris, S, Markus, S and Brown, J, 2023, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Roman and Saxon settlements along the route of the A43 Corby Link Road, Northamptonshire, p. 17, (Monograph). SNN115671.

Record last edited

Nov 12 2024 1:32PM