Monument record 5813/0/11 - Middle Iron Age settlement and field system, Quinton House School

Archaeological investigation prior to the construction of a sports hall found most of a small Iron Age enclosure, probably dating to the later middle Iron Age, was excavated. The enclosure had seen intensive use, containing a circular sub-enclosure, which may have been a roundhouse ring ditch, two small rectangular sub-enclosures and other boundary ditches and scattered postholes and pits, the latter lying mainly close to the enclosure ditch. The pottery assemblage was dominated by large storage jars. The enclosure lies to the west of an area of more extensive contemporary settlement examined in previous excavations, with the Roman town of Duston lying further to the east.

{1} The north side of the Iron Age enclosure ditch was present at the south end of trench 3. It was 3.3m wide and had some large and small gravel and charcoal lumps and flecks in its fill.
A possible ditch aligned north south at the far end of trench 4 was at least 0.9m wide and contained fragments of decayed limestone and gravel. It is possible that it is the western side of the enclosure ditch.
The southern side of the enclosure ditch was aligned east west in trench 5, with a V shaped profile (although its lower limit was not exposed) and was cut into the natural.

A number of internal features were alos identified during the evaluation, including pits, postholes and a further ditch.

{2} A south west to north east aligned ditch at the south of the site may have been a continuation of and equivalent to a middle Iron Age boundary sytem identified in the excavations to the east. A possible co-axial field-system of shorter boundary ditches set at right angles to the main boundary was defined in the excavations to the east. It may have continued into this area as a linear ditch that pre-dated the western arm of the enclosure.

A small irregular ditched enclosure was subsequently constructed, also dating to the middle Iron Age. There was a single roundhouse in the north-west corner probably used as a dwelling. The southern part of the enclosure was divided into a number of small areas, possibly for storage, animal pens or working areas. There was the north-west corner of another possible enclosure to the west.

Although it is possible that the material from the ditch was used to create an internal bank, some of the internal features almost abutted the edge of the ditch and there was also little evidence of asymmetrical silting of the ditch. There was little evidence that the ditch held standing water for any stretch of time. There were occasional sherds of middle Iron Age pottery and low quantities of charred cereal remains in the ditch fills, suggesting the enclosure ditches were not used for the disposal of rubbish.

A semi-circular sub enclosure lay to the north and enclosed an area of c.8m in diameter.It is probable that the enclosure defined the perimeter of a roundhouse. The ditch had been re-cut, the earliest phase replaced by a ditch on a slightly smaller diameter.Theere was no indication of any deliberate deposits having been made in the terminals of the ditches and little evidence that the ditches had been used to dispose of domestic detritus.Several pits were clustered beyond the terminals of E2; one contained large quantities of mostly processed charred cereal, indicating that it had been used as a rubbish pit. Within E2 there were two roughly parallel lines of postholes aligned south west to north east. The slightly offset location of the posthole structure within E2 makes it unlikely to have been contemporary and it may have been a later replacement.

To the south of E2 lay a further sub-enclosure, enclosing an area of 8m by 6m. The southern arm of the enclosure was formed by the northern arm of enclosure E4, making it likely that the two were in use at the same time. Two entrances lay to the north east and south west; the north eastern entrance was largely blocked by E2 suggesting that it was not used as an entrance or was disused. A semi-rectangular arrangement of at least seven postholes, aligned north west to south east and measuring approximately 6m by 3m, suggest the presence of an internal structure. The small enclosure may have been a stock pen, possibly used to keep animals overnight. The postholes may be the remains of a palisade.

The southernmost sub-enclosure was approximately 9m long and 5m wide, aligned north east to south west, and had been successively re-cut, modified and enlarged. There was no evidence for a structure within the enclosure, which suggests it was used for stock control. There was further evidence of zoning within the enclosure.

A line of five pits in the south east corner of the site were aligned parallel to the boundary ditch and later enclosure ditch, although one of them was cut by the south west corner of one of the sub-enclosures. The pits were 2-2.25m long, 1.3-1.6m wide and 0.37-0.52m deep and were positioned between 0.8m and 1m apart. The nature of the fills of the pits suggests that they were deliberately backfilled rather than being allowed to silt up gradually. It is unclear if the pits pre-dated the enclosure and formed part of a more extensive pit alignment or were dug alongside the enclosure ditch after its construction since there is no definitive dating evidence. However, since the pits did not continue into the site to the east, it is considered more likely that they were internal elements within the enclousre, rather than an earlier pit alignment.

To the west of the enclosure there was the north eastern corner of another possible enclosure. The ditches measured between 0.56-1.02m wide and 0.38-0.45m and respected the other enclosure, suggesting they were contemporary. The northern ditches were generally shallow with rounded bases, while the eastern ditch had a very narrow, steep profile suggesting it may have held a timber palisade. An entrance in the northern arm of the enclosure was 2.30m wide. Some postholes and a short length of gully lay ot the osuth of the entrance. A cluster of small, shallow pits and postholes to the north were undated, but may have been contemporary.

<1> Butler A.; Foard-Colby A., 2006, Geophysical Survey & Archaeological Evaluation at Quinton House School, Upton, Northamptonshire, p.7 (unchecked) (Report). SNN105875.

<2> Foard-Colby A.; Walker C., 2007, Archaeological Excavation at Quinton House School, Upton, Northampton, January - February 2007, p.6 (unchecked) (Report). SNN105992.

<3> Foard-Colby A.; Walker C., 2010, Iron Age Settlement and Medieval Features at Quinton House School, Upton, Northampton (Article). SNN107491.

Record last edited

Nov 19 2020 10:19AM