Natural Feature record 3124/0/17 - Geological feature, land north of Station Road

Earthwork identified on aerial photographs. Interpreted as a post-medieval bank but archaeological investigation has proved that it is of natural origin.

{2} Trial trench excavation was undertaken in 2014. Trench 24 was placed to bisect a long narrow gully and bank running north/south along the eastern edge of the field. This is visible as both an earthwork and on the geophysical survey and was thought to potentially be archaeological in origin, possibly of post-medieval date. However, on excavation the only apparent explanation for the earthwork was a combination of geological and topographical factors. The earthwork coincides with a change in geology from soft clay to compact silty-clay and ironstone, the former overlying the later. With the geological change being on the side of a valley, erosion had left a pronounced step along the edge of the clay which gave the impression of a built-up bank. The ‘gully’, up slope of the ‘bank’, was not a man-made feature but rather a depression in the ground present because of an absence of subsoil along the edge of the clay, possibly caused by water erosion exploiting a natural weakness.

<1> Northamptonshire SMR Collection of Aerial Photographs, Used with NMR & CUCAP collections (Photographs). SNN104822.

<2> Morris, M., 2014, An archaeological field evaluation by trial trenching of land north of Station Road, Irchester, Northamptonshire, p. 7-8 (Report). SNN110196.

Record last edited

Oct 16 2019 10:10AM