Monument record 727/0/198 - Northampton Road (Medieval)

{1}(Ref 2.0)The plan form may have developed in the late Saxon or early medieval period, possibly in association with the new road which had been laid out to link the burhs of Oxford and Northampton. This road entered Towcester from the west, crossed the market place and continued on to Northampton across the mill-race through Easton Neston and Hulcote, where a green lane known as the ‘Old Road’ was marked on the OS 6" map.
The only major change to the layout of the town before the 19th century appears to have been the realignment of the road from Northampton.
(Ref 3.1.2.1)The castle may have been placed to control the road from Oxford to Northampton, which then followed the line of Church Lane and crossed the Tove near the corn mill. It then continued through Easton Neston and Hulcote, where a green lane is still called the ‘Old Road’ (OS 6"), towards Northampton. This was not a major line of Roman communication and it is possible that a new road linking the burhs of Oxford and Northampton was laid out in the first half of the 10th century.
(Ref 3.5)In the late Saxon period a road linking the Saxon burhs of Oxford and Northampton was built. It entered Towcester along Park Lane, crossed Watling Street at the market place in the town centre, and continued past the church and over the river through Easton Neston towards Northampton. The Gough Map of c. 1350 showed Towcester as lying on a road which branched off the London to Northampton road at Stony Stratford and which continued through Buckingham, Towcester and Daventry.

<1> Taylor J.; Foard G.; Laughton J.; Steadman S.; Ballinger J., 2002, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Towcester, 2.0, 3.1.2.1, 3.5 (checked) (Report). SNN103132.

<2> Beresford C., 1993, Easton Neston, Northamptonshire: Historical Assessment of the Park, (part checked) (Full Report). SNN59608.

<3> Beresford C., 1992, SMR Report form, (part checked) (SMR Report Form). SNN107415.

Record last edited

May 25 2011 12:32PM