Monument record 2026/1 - Possible barrow cemetery, Ecton North Lodge

Possible cremation cemetery apparently destroyed by ploughing. Aerial photographs show a number of ring ditches, possibly Bronze Age round barrows. Limited excavation of one was undertaken in 1969 to assess its condition.

{1}Bronze Age or early Iron Age pot sherds and a flint fabricator.

Three mounds surviving up to 1ft high; undated hearth.

{2}Limited excavation was undertaken to assess the condition of barrows. A single barrow was targeted [see individual record]. Other trenches identified a small number of other features. Trench 1 contained remains of an unurned cremation (black ash and a few bone fragments in a small pit about 5in deep and 9in in diameter). A limited number of other features were also identified including late Iron Age and Roman ditches and postholes (unsurprising given the proximity to the nearby settlement).

{3} Ring Ditch (SP 82276517), 30 m. in diam., visible on air photographs, lying within an irregular enclosure. Traces of a small inner ring are visible. It was excavated in 1970 after field-walking had revealed traces of cremation burials, but it seemed that modern ploughing had destroyed all trace of burials and only a few sherds of Bronze Age or early Iron Age pottery were recovered. Numerous Roman ditches, Roman pottery, a ring-headed pin and a flint fabricator were discovered

{4} Trial excavation in 1969 suggested that any cemetery that may have existed had already been destroyed by the plough.

{5} Trial trenches were excavated after surface conditions suggested that a late Bronze Age urnfield was being destroyed by ploughing. Despite recovery of pottery from that period and scattered cremations, the evidence from the excavation suggests any urnfield that may have existed had already been destroyed;

{6} (SP823652) Ring ditch on AP in 1979.

<1> Ordnance Survey, 1950s/1960s, Ordnance Survey Record Cards, SP86NW13 (unchecked) (Index). SNN443.

<2> Jackson D.A., 1973, Excavations at North Lodge Near Ecton, Northamptonshire, 1969, 8/31 (unchecked) (Article). SNN76287.

<3> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1979, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.49 site 7 (unchecked) (Series). SNN77380.

<4> Ordnance Survey, 1950s/1960s, Ordnance Survey Record Cards, SP86NW13 (unchecked) (Index). SNN443.

<5> 1969, MOW Archaeological Excavations 1968, 10-11 (Series). SNN57828.

<6> Brown A.E. (ed.), 1980, Archaeology in Northamptonshire 1979, P. 177 (Article). SNN56490.

Record last edited

Jan 27 2026 4:22PM