Monument record 4732/0/7 - Medieval Trackway & Building Platforms (Morphed Aerial Archaeology Interpretation)

Earthwork: Non-destructive fieldwork

{2} The sites and closes of the cottages and one of the farmsteads were defined by low banks and scarps until recent destruction.

{3} The most prominent feature in the geophysical survey results is a ditch and bank that may relate to earthworks in an adjacent field to the south. The ditch and bank are orientated north east to south west before turning 90 degrees to extend north-west out of the survey area.
The bank identified from geophysical survey was present in trench 1. The base of this was formed from a metalled surface comprising a layer of mixed stone and cobbles, set into the natural clay from which a piece of post-medieval tile was recovered. Overlying this was a deposit of silty mottles grey-brown loamy clay 0.16m deep. This appears to form a continuation of the trackway seen in trench 13 and is likely to be associated with the medieval earthworks to the south west.
Trench 13 contained an oblique feature that aligned north-east to south-west and was cut by a gully along its northern edge and two further parallel shallow gullies to its north and south. The oblique feature measured 4.3m wide and 0.6m deep. At its base was a cambered metalled surface made from mixed stones and cobbles set into the natural clay. This was overlain by mid grey brown silty clay which produced half of a modern frogged brick and a fragment of post medieval tile. Its northern edge was but by a V-shaped gully 0.73m wide and 0.34m deep. The two parallel U-shaped gullies to the north and south were separated by approx 1.5m from the oblique feature. These were both shallow, being no more that 0.7m wide and 0.15m deep. This group of features appears to represent a trackway or hollow-way bounded on either side by shallow gullies, perhaps denoting former hedge lines. Although it is likely to be associated with the medieval earthworks to the south west, the frogged brick may indicate a relatively recent date for the final infilling of this feature.

{5} The earliest evidence of medieval activity dated from the 14th-16th centuries and was associated with a possible plot boundary. The remains of a small building were also found south of the boundary, probably part of the small dispersed settlement located along the length of the hollow-way. It is possible that it was the northernmost element of a small group of buildings present on the 1727 map.

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

<2> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1982, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.79 site 5 (checked) (Series). SNN77382.

<3> Burke J.; Yates A.; Fisher I., 2010, Archaeological Geophysical Survey and Trial Trench Evaluation on land Off School Lane, Hartwell, Northamptonshire, p.2-3 (checked) (Report). SNN107195.

<4> Walker C.; Burke J., 2012, Archaeological Excavation at School Lane, Hartwell, Northamptonshire: Assessment Report and Updated Project Design (Report). SNN109201.

<4> Walker, C, 2019, Late medieval and post-medieval roadside settlement at School Lane, Hartwell (Article). SNN112215.

<5> Finn, C., Chapman, A., Walker C. And Burke J., 2015, Late Iron Age and early Roman settlement at School Lane, Hartwell, Northamptonshire 2015 (Report). SNN110428.

Record last edited

Jul 24 2018 12:25PM