Monument record 3728/1/1 - Neolithic or Bronze Age oval enclosure or ring ditch, Grendon Quarry

A ring ditch or hengiform monument at Grendon destroyed in the 1970s by gravel extraction. No excavation was possible prior to quarrying. The site had been recorded initially as a cropmark, but had also been visible in the 1960s as a very spread low mound up to 0.5 metres high and up to 60 metres in diameter. The ditch itself enclosed an area circa 50 metres in diameter, and the cropmark suggests that there was a causeway on the west. It appears to have been sub-oval rather than circular, and observations in the 1960s of scattered lumps of limestone in the ploughsoil have been suggested to represent remains of a brokne cist or a kerb/retaining wall around the mound. The presence of a mound cetainly suggests interpretation as a barrow, although the cropmark evidence has led to suggestions that the site may have been a henge or hengiform monument.

{1} The large ring ditch proved to be a Bronze Age barrow with a stone kerb. Iron Age pottery and two iron-smelting pits, probably of Iron Age date, were found in the vicinity.

{2} F13 may have been one of the most important early prehistoric features at the site and it is therefore unfortunate that resources were unavailable for excavation prior to quarrying. A mound 0.5m high and 60m across covered the site, the mound may have had a kerb or retaining wall. The ditch showing on APs was between 5-8m wide, its possible that the width had arisen as a result of recutting. It is impossible to determine whether the feature was formerly oval or had a western opening. The feature may have been some form of barrow or henge.

{3?} A curving line of limestone was seen on the east side of the barrow during stripping works. Sections show several courses of revetting to the barrow mound

<1> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1982, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.199/Site 7 (checked) (Series). SNN77382.

<2> Jackson D.A., 1995, Archaeology at Grendon Quarry, Northamptonshire: Part 2, Other Prehistoric, Iron Age and Later Sites Excavated in 1974-5, and Further Observations Between 1976-80, 26/5 (unchecked) (Report). SNN70994.

<3> Jackson D.A., 1980, Excavation and Observation at Grendon Gravel Quarry 1976-1980, (unchecked) (Report). SNN44013.

<4> Northamptonshire SMR Collection of Aerial Photographs, Used with NMR & CUCAP collections (Photographs). SNN104822.

Record last edited

Dec 8 2023 11:41AM