Monument record 953/14 - Medieval tenements, Harbidges Lane

Archaeological excavation has confirmed that occupation was present on at least part of this area between the 11th and late 14th centuries

{1} For details of tenements see sections 2.0 Topographical Development and 3.4 Tenements in main report.

{1} Trial trench excavation identified a metalled surface. At the eastern end of the cobbled area remnants of a crude uncoursed wall overlay the cobbled surface. A further length of wall was recorded aligned east-west.

{3, 4, 5} Archaeological excavation of 0.8ha. Occupation originated in the 11th century. Two small timber-framed buildings set just over 1m apart in the centre of a plot to the north of the Coventry- Northampton Road frontage. Both were simple single-cell buildings with no apparent internal partition. The plot was c10m wide (two rods)with ditches defining the east and west sides. Beyond the western boundary ditch were one or two probable fields also defined by ditches. One of the fields was more than 30m long and 12m wide, with two probable internal divisions creating possible paddocks and a possible watering hole.
In the mid/late 13th century the site was completely reorganised. A north-south aligned trackway probably led to the main road. A north-west to south-east aligned stone-founded building abutted either side of the track. Only one of the buildings lay fully within the excavated area. No internal features were identified. A possible floor in the second building (which mostly lay outside the excavation area) contained pottery dating to the 13th-14th century. At the eastern edge of the site, adjacent to the Harbidges Lane frontage, were a series of ditches aligned broadly parallel with the track. A wall, possibly late medieval/post-medieval, had later been built on top of the filled in ditch, probably perpetuating the same boundary.
The site was probably abandoned in the later 14th century.

<1> FOARD G., 2000, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Long Buckby (Medieval + Post Medieval), (checked) (Report). SNN100746.

<2> Chinnock, C., 2012, Archaeological Trial Trench Evaluation of Land at Hillgay, Harbidges Lane, Long Buckby, Northamptonshire, p.10 (checked) (Report). SNN108520.

<3> Reid, A., 2017, Archaeological excavation at Harbidges Lane, Long Buckby, Northamptonshire, October -November 2016 (Report). SNN111128.

<4> Crank, N. (Editor), 2018, South Midlands Archaeology (48), p. 64 (Journal). SNN111393.

<5> Reid, A., 2019, A medieval road and buildings at Harbidges Lane, Long Buckby (Article). SNN112214.

Record last edited

Nov 19 2020 1:02PM