Monument record 1630/1 - Site of Iron Age and Roman settlement

Extensive area of settlement possibly associated with further activity to the south-west (1630). Various unstratified finds have been made during metal detecting and fieldwalking surveys. In the 1980s ditches and walls were recorded in a quarry drainage trench and more recently further features have been noted in cable and water trenches across the area. A geophysical survey may have identified the north-eastern extent of this area of settlement.

{2} Fieldwalking recovered Romano-British pot sherds in association with the stone of possible buildings.

{3} A great many ditches, some of which appear to be early or perhaps pre-Roman. A quarry drainage trench revealed about 20 ditches mainly running in a NW-SE direction (SP946 696). Some pitched stone, probably flimsy foundations, were seen in the quarry face. No floors were noted and very little roof tile was found.

{4} Gravel quarrying exposed numerous Roman and probable Iron Age ditches as well as some pitched stonework.

{5} Features at SP945 697. An iron horseshoe was found embedded under the foundations of a stone wall exposed in a quarry drainage trench. Fragments of smelted lead and some unidentified iron objects were found on the surface with a metal detector.

{6} An extensive spread of features (including ten that contained pottery) were identified in the trench excavated across the field between the substation and the branch line (the archaeological features were concentrated in a c80m length of the cable trench at c SP 945697). Due to the nature of the trench (1.2m wide), it was not possible to make any more than broad comments about the wider nature of the settlement.

The only feature that may have dated from the middle Iron Age was a pit, although it contained only a few very small fragments of the pottery that may have been residual. As exposed it measured 1.2m N-S and at least 0.45m E-W. The remaining features included ditches, two possible quarry pits (of up to 7m in length) and a number of smaller pits and postholes. Most of the ditches were aligned either NE-SW or NW-SE and may have defined the boundaries of an arrangement of rectilinear enclosures. The artefactual and environmental evidence was limited, although this might have been limited by the nature of the excavation. The ceramic evidence indicated that activity spanned the middle Iron Age to the early Roman period, with a peak in activity during the 1st century AD.

There were at least two phases of activity, separated by an alluvial episode.

{7} At the northern end (at c SP 944 696) of the trench for the rising main replacement there was a large irregular Roman quarry pit, at least 0.5m deep, the fill of which contained pottery dating to the mid-1st century AD. It truncated an earlier pit from which no dating evidence was recovered. A second quarry pit, at least 0.7m wide and 0.36m deep, also contained mid-1st century AD pottery. There was also a smaller pit adjacent. The finds in the pits indicate that there was domestic occupation close by.

{9} Finds made 15/10/1980. Over 25 unstratified Romano-British pot sherds were recovered from a gravel quarry (SP 946 696).

{10} A magnetometry survey was undertaken since previous investigations by Irthlingborough Archaeological Society within and near to the survey area have shown that the site is of high archaeological potential. Numerous archaeological features, including ditches and gullies of Iron Age and Roman origin, were exposed by the excavation on the line of the service trench to the west, and similar findings were noted (at shallower depth) in test pits around the northern end of the survey
area.

The survey detected a complex pattern of clearly defined subsurface features which represent intersecting or superimposed features, as might be expected at a settlement site which was occupied over an extended time period. The most clearly defined feature was a rectilinear enclosure. A second enclosure may have also been present to the north as well as probable circular enclosures. A number of individual magnetic anomalies of a kind which might represent pits or other features associated with settlement activity or structural remains (pits, hearths, etc.) were also identified.

{12} An archaeological excavation, 10m by 20m in area, was undertaken by members of the Irthlingborough Archaeological Society in association with Oxford Archaeology. It revealed several pits and the remains of two rectangular stone-built Roman buildings. The southern building was the earlier, probably dating to the early to middle Roman period, while the northern building was associated with a large assemblage of later Roman pottery. The northern building was better preserved and had originally been the more substantial of the two. The northern building had an internal floor surface of flat limestone and was associated with an occupation layer and metalled surface or demolition layer of limestone. The form of the buildings suggests that they were part of a larger settlement.

A piece of relief sculpture depicting a mythical scene was recovered during cleaning of the area around the northern building. The sculpture appeared to be unfinished but was probably meant to be part of a frieze for a tomb, probably a tower tomb. It seems likely that the sculpture came from nearby- possibly from the shrine at Higham Ferrers or the large villa complex at Stanwick.

<1> Simmonds, A., 2014, Nene Valley wetlands power line cable installation, Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire: Archaeological excavation and watching brief report, Checked (Report). SNN110353.

<2> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1975, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.57/Site 10 (Series). SNN77379.

<3> JACKSON D.A., 1980, Site Notes - Gravel Working at Irthlingborough (Unpublished Report). SNN57525.

<4> Brown A.E. (ed.), 1981, Archaeology in Northamptonshire 1980, p.201 Irthlingborough (Article). SNN100418.

<5> Brown A.E.(ed), 1982, Archaeology in Northamptonshire 1981, p.99 Irthlingborough (checked) (Journal). SNN100413.

<6> Simmonds, A., 2014, Nene Valley wetlands power line cable installation, Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire: Archaeological excavation and watching brief report (Report). SNN110353.

<7> Cox, N., 2015, Higham Ferrers Rising Main Replacement (Report). SNN110211.

<8> HALL D.N.; HUTCHINGS J.B., 1972, The Distribution of Archaeological Sites Between The Nene and The Ouse Valleys, p. 14 (Article). SNN35780.

<9> Northampton Museum Archive Index (Index). SNN36250.

<10> Bartlett, A., 2017, Land South of Tannery Cottages, Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire: Archaeological Geophysical Survey, 2017 (Report). SNN110663.

<11> Horne B. (Editor), 2014, South Midlands Archaeology (44), p. 50 (Journal). SNN109842.

<12> Biddulph, E, 2018, Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, p. 22 (Article). SNN112133.

<13> Brady, K, 2023, Land at Tannery Cottages, Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire: Archaeological Excavation Report (Report). SNN114990.

Record last edited

Apr 5 2023 3:43PM