Monument record 2758/1/1 - Neolithic Causewayed Enclosure, later re-used as an Iron Age palisaded enclosure

Site of a probable Neolithic causewayed enclosure, located on low-lying ground a short distance northwest of the course of the River Nene. The cropmarks were transcribed and interpreted by RCHME in 1995 as part of the Industry and Enclosure in the Neolithic Project. See the archive report for full details. The cropmark comprises an incomplete D-shaped enclosure with two concentric circuits of interrupted ditches. It is situated near the courses of two streams which flow into the Nene, one to the south of the enclosure, the other bisecting it. The diameters of the two circuits are 155 metres and 210 metres. Between the ditches along the southern part of the circuit is a narrower ditch, possibly a palisade trench. The southeast half of the enclosure features numerous pits. Any pits in the northern part of the interior are likely to be masked by the soil conditions. Fragmented, narrow linear ditches cut across the enclosure in various places. These may well represent enclosures, perhaps fields. A small excavation across the causewayed enclosure circuit in 1972 found Iron Age potsherds and animal bones in the ditches. Topsoil finds included a single flint flake, two spindle whorls and a Roman potsherd. A pit at the southeast end of the enclosure, between the ditches, contained a crouched inhumation accompanied by animal bones, a single sherd of pottery, and a flat bronze dagger of Early Bronze Age date. To the west of the causewayed enclosure is a single-ditched rectilinear enclosure circa 40 metres by 52 metres with an entrance along its eastern side. It appears to be associated with trackways and other linear features, as well as a number of pits.

{1} Enclosure (TL 04109296) It is a large sub-rectangular enclosure with a causewayed ditch on the SE side; a similar ditch bounds an outer annex. Two large pits are visible in the annex and the enclosure is intersected by short lengths of other ditches. A small excavation in 1972 across one of the causeways revealed that the adjacent ditches were 4 m. wide and 1 m. deep. They contained Iron Age pottery and animal bones. One of the pits had a crouched inhumation in it, accompanied by the leg bone of a sheep, a flat bronze dagger and a single sherd. The dagger is said to be of Early Bronze Age type.

{2} An area across one of the entrances of a causewayed enclosure identified on aerial photographs by St Joseph, Hollowell and Upex. Ditches 12ft wide x 3ft 6ins deep revealed Iron Age pottery and animal bones. Some of the latter bore evidence of cuts. Modern agriculture had removed any evidence of possible posts or stakes.

{3} Excavation in October 1972 at the south-eastern end of a large enclosure, here bounded by two wide ditches some 22m apart. Each ditch was broken by several gaps or entrances. Pottery excavated dated the ditches to the Iron Age.

{6} Southwick TL041929. Causewayed camp and possible Roman road identified. AP No.339.

{7} The circuits at Maesyn Ridware in Staffordshire and Southwick have the appearance of being 'squashed' along one side, the straighter sides in fact following low natural terraces that mark the edge of the later floodplain. The concentration of causewayed enclosures in the valleys of the rivers Nene and Welland is all the more remarkable in that they all seem to share a similar plan form and size. Only at Southwick does the topography seem to have influenced the plan, for the eastern side of the enclosure follows the course of a stream. Like the causewayed enclosure at Cardington, trial excavation at the southern end of the enclosure [at Southwick] recovered only Iron Age pottery from the upper levels of the ditch. Aerial survey puts this discovery into context: the southern half of the enclosure appears to have been reused as the site of a palisaded enclosure. The alignment of the palisade between the widely spaced ditches of the Neolithic enclosure suggests that the causewayed earthworks may have survived to some degree.

{9} Crop marks of an incomplete causewayed enclosure consisting of two concentric circuits of causewayed ditches, situated on the south-western side of a small brook. The enclosure is curvilinear in form, but the northern part of the inner circuit bends sharply south-east, mirroring the course of the brook. The enclosure is incomplete on the north-eastern and south-western sides due to disappearance of the crop mark in deeper soil. The inner circuit measures 150 x 140 metres, and the outer circuit 204 metres in length. The ditch segments range from 6-48m in length and 2.5-4m in width, and the two circuits are approximately 24m apart. Between the circuits in the south-eastern half of the enclosure there are two lengths of narrower ditch, possibly a palisade trench.

Within the southern half of the enclosure there is a concentration of pits and two fine linear ditches, the most southerly of which is met by a perpendicular ditch and cuts through the line of both circuits and the palisade trench of the causewayed enclosure. (These are thought to relate to the Iron Age enclosure ditch referred to in (1) above).

A 1;2500 scale level 3 photogrammetric survey of the causewayed enclosure and surrounding features was undertaken as part of the Industry and Enclosure in the Neolithic Project, set up by the Cambridge Field Office of the RCHME. The survey was carried out by the Air Photography Unit of the RCHME between the 8th and 9th August 1995. Copies of the resultant plan, digital files and report are held by the RCHME.

<1> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1975, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.86/Site 6 (checked) (Series). SNN77379.

<2> Brown A.E. (Editor), 1973, Archaeology in Northamptonshire 1972, p.5 (checked) (Journal). SNN8956.

<3> Nene Valley Research Committee, 1973, Durobrivae: A Review of Nene Valley Archaeology (Vol.1), p.24 (checked) (Journal). SNN6892.

<4> 1982, Aerial Photography in Northamptonshire 1981, (unchecked) (Journal). SNN104561.

<5> Northamptonshire SMR Collection of Aerial Photographs, Used with NMR & CUCAP collections (Photographs). SNN104822.

<6> Brown A.E. (Editor), 1972, Air Photography Report for 1971 (Baker & Pickering), p.56 (checked) (Journal). SNN11490.

<7> Oswald A.; Dyer C.; Barber M., 2001, The Creation Of Monuments - Neolithic Causewayed Enclosures In The British Isles, p.67+110+144 (unchecked) (Book). SNN101126.

<8> Small, F, 1995, RCHME: Southwick Causewayed Enclosure Project (Archive). SNN114521.

<9> RCHME/EH/HE Aerial Photographers comment, Fiona Small/09-AUG-1995/RCHME: Southwick Causewayed Enclosure Project. (Note). SNN114522.

Record last edited

Dec 16 2022 12:10PM