Monument record 7720 - Prehistoric Settlement

Prehistoric or Roman settlement site consisting of an enclosure and ring ditches or hut circles seen on air photographs. Geophysical survey and trial trench excavation confirmed the presence of archaeological features, although they did not correspond. Possible Bronze Age pottery was recovered.

{2} Settlement (SP 818857), in the S. of the parish, on Boulder Clay at 135m above OD. Air photographs show a large roughly rectangular enclosure with a small enclosure in its S.W. corner. A number of interlocked ring ditches or hut circles are visible in the interior, though these are not clearly defined.

{4} Trial trenching of the former airfield found several ditches in this area which may correspond with the enclosure cropmarks. The alignment of the ditches in the trench do not match cropmarks recorded on the HER or the anomalies detected by the geophysical survey. Possible Bronze Age pottery was recovered from the ditch fill (although no pottery report was included). Interpreted as a possible barrow or enclosure.

<1> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1979, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, Mon 5 (Series). SNN77380.

<2> Vertical Aerial Photograph, CUAP BHO 45-6 48-9 (Aerial Photograph(s)). SNN112695.

<3> Rose, G., 2015, Proposed solar photovoltaic park at the former RAF Desborough Airfield: Geophysical Survey (Report). SNN110789.

<4> Coe, R., Long, P., Sims, H. And Allsop, C., 2015, Proposed Solar Photovoltaic Park at the Former RAF Desborough Airfield: Archaeological Field Evaluation, p. 22 (Report). SNN110220.

Record last edited

Feb 5 2025 7:19PM