Monument record 2799/4 - Late Saxon and Medieval activity, north of Main Street

Excavation of a plot adjacent to the vicarage in 1996 identified a 10th/11th century quarry pit and roasting hearth and a second quarry pit dating to the 12th/13th centuries. The pit was backfilled immediately prior to the construction of a medieval stone hall dating from the mid-13th century. It may have been a manse owned by St Mary's Priory, Huntingdon. This building later served as a small non-ferrous metal workshop with hearths and a casting pit and was subsequently converted into a kitchen and brewhouse before being relegated to use as an outbuilding for the 16th century Vicarage Farm.

{1} Excavation in 1996. During the late Saxon period and pre-dating the construction of the open hall house a large ovoid pit was dug for ironstone. The pit measured 8x3m and at least 2m deep. The backfill of the pit was a clean mix of grey and orange clay, the fill was interpreted as the overburden which had been pushed back without contamination, a small amount of sagging was visible.

On the northern edge of the pit was an ore roasting hearth. At least two separate roasting sessions were evident. There was no evidence of smelting. A large area of quarrying dated to the 12th/13th centuries and was backfileld immediately prior to the construction of the hall. A stone-built open hall, probably built in the period 1250-1350, aligned east-west and measuring 12m x 6m internally, positioned 20m north of the modern road edge. The walls were 0.6m thick with foundations of 05m. The limestone used was mainly faced rubble averaging 22cm x 15cm x 12cm; fire reddening on several pieces indicated re-use. The north wall was still substantially intact although cultivation during WWII had affected the top layer.

The open hall had an orange clay floor which had a thickness of 1cm, the flooring surface had only survived in an area where massive sinkage had occurred into a pit hollow. An open hearth towards the east end was 3.25 x 1.5m and composed of pitched re-used Collyweston roofing slates in a matrix of fire reddened clay. The hearth showed heavy use only at the east end. Ash from the feature had dirtied the surface of the clay floor.

In c.1350 the open hall acquired a first floor and a structure which was possibly a stair turret. A semi-circular structure 1.95m in diameter was inserted along the gable, the outside face of this wall may have been faceted. The area inside this curved feature had no identifiable floor layers, around 3kg of iron tap slag was recovered and is thought to predate this phase.

During the later 14th century - early 15th century, the building was briefly used as a non-ferrous metal working site. Features of this phase include a series of five small bowl hearths avearging 40cm in diameter, a square stone hearth, and a casting pit. The casting pit contained 73 fragments of casting mould. The gravel floor of this phase showed many layers of packing where the ground sagged into the underlying earlier phase pit. Several ash layers contemporary with the bowl hearths yielded 220g of copper splashes. A lead hearth contemporary with the five bowl hearths had been relined twice and was full of lead when excavated. Five lead weights found along the inside of the N wall show signs of wear and may not have been products of the hearth.

The original building underwent a significant period of change between 1375-1425, being converted into a kitchen and brewhouse. Two new substantial walls were built with 1m wide foundations, these walls forming new gable ends and reducing the internal length of the building to 8.5m. A third wall at the west end of the building cut off the stair turret and thickened the existing west wall.

At the southern end of the new west wall a slot 10cm wide and 15cm deep may represent panelling, seperating the wall from a large stone oven block containing 3 ovens. Three large heat damaged fragments of a stone altar were reused in this section of the wall.

The evidence of the location of the two new substantial walls indicate an out shot building. As the staus of the building declined another new building was placed closer to the road, although much of this building remained unexcavated.

A change of use occurred in the period 1425-75 when all the ovens were demolished and filled in with an orange stony clay mixture contaminated with wall plaster. Analysis of this period is hampered as a result of the majority of the layers of this period having been ploughed out. The modern boundary is built upon the original C13th east gable end.

The earlier quarrying directly adjacent to the old hall during the period 1475-1500 which led to the need for a massive stone revetment in order to stop the building's deterioration. The quarrying ultimately may have led to the demise of the hall. Soon afterwards the whole complex of buildings seems to have been demolished. Stone was robbed out of the south wall of the main building and then a large pit, was cut through the east end.

{2} A medieval multi-phase stone building, the floors of which contained at least seven furnace/oven/hearth structures of varying shapes and sizes. One furnace contained fragments of a thick-walled grass-tempered clay vessel whose inside surface was coated in melted copper.

{5} An early medieval iron smelting site located in Southwick. Evidence of this site can be seen in many places in the village, including slag, tap slag and roasted ore. The remains were under crop and in private gardens during the 1998 field survey and no evidence was seen.

<1> Johnston AG. Bellamy B. and Foster PJ., 2000-01, Excavations at Southwick, Northamptonshire, 1996, P138 (checked) (Article). SNN103948.

<2> 1995, Medieval Archaeology (39), p. 275 (Journal). SNN47069.

<3> JOHNSTON, 1996, CORRESPONDENCE, (unchecked) (Correspondence). SNN3589.

<4> MEDIEVAL SETTLEMENT RESEARCH GROUP, 1996, Annual Report, p. 42 (Annual Report). SNN105122.

<5> Crossley D., 1998, Monuments Protection Programme: Iron and Steel Industries (Step 3, Appendix 3, Handlist of Assessed Sites) (Report). SNN106760.

Record last edited

Mar 24 2023 1:51PM