Monument record 5931/0/3 - Middle Iron Age Enclosures

Two enclosures were discovered during subsoil stripping for the A6 Rushden and Higham Ferrers Bypass.

{1} Two enclosures were discovered during subsoil stripping. Much of Enclosure 1 was lost to the stripping. Enclosure 2 was partly damaged, but extended beyond the road corridor.
Enclosure 1: c.30m length of curving ditch was revealed, its form suggesting a funnel entrance. About half the enclosure area was exposed and found to extend c.20m north-south, and probably the same east-west. No internal features were identified. Small quantitied of pottery and animal bone were recovered from the ditch fills.
Enclosure 2: located to the north-east of E1. The corner of a rectangular ditched enclosure was exposed. Its overall dimensions were not revealed within the limits of the fieldwork. A single sherd of pottery was recovered from its slight ditch (1.0m wide x 0.3m deep).
The presence of Scored Ware sherds indicates that the find assemblage is broadly dated to the middle Iron Age. The unstratified material included a single rim sherd from a rolled everted rim of a large jar, this being typical of late Iron Age/early Romano-British date. This may suggest that the features belong to the end of the middle Iron Age, perhaps the C2nd-C1st BC.

<1> MUDD A., 2003, A6 Rushden-Higham Ferrers Bypass, Archaeological Watching Brief: Post Excavation Assessment and Updated Project Design, (part checked) (Report). SNN103306.

<2> MUDD A., 2004, Iron Age And Roman Enclosures Near Higham Ferrers: The Archaeology of The A6 Rushden and Higham Ferrers Bypass (Article). SNN112187.

<2> MUDD A., 2005, Iron Age And Roman Enclosures Near Higham Ferrers: The Archaeology of The A6 Rushden and Higham Ferrers Bypass, (unchecked) (Full Report). SNN105203.

Record last edited

Aug 22 2022 9:04AM