Monument record 6418/0/1 - Site of mid- late Iron Age farmstead, Willows Nursery

A sub-rectangular enclosure and possible associated paddocks were investigated during the development of a pipeline. There was also evidence for a possible oven or kiln

{1} A ditched sub-rectangular enclosure was detected by geophysical survey, with additional ditches and several small features. Two other ditches formed opposite sides of a small rectangular enclosure of unknown date.

{3, 4} The excavation was targeted on a sub-rectangular enclosure identified by the geophysical survey, but to minimise the impact to the archaeological features, the pipe trench was poistioned towards the western edge of the easement, so just the north-western corner of the enclosure and associated remains were excavated.

The enclosure ditch contained late Iron pottery and was up to 2.0m wide and 0.5m deep. A series of linear ditches sharing the same alignments as the enclosure, appeared to define rectangular plots or paddocks to the west. A pit, which lay at the southern end of the site, contained debris which may have originated from a clay-domed oven or kiln.

Pottery from the excavation probably dates to the late middle Iron Age (2nd to 1st centuries BC), with a possible continuation into the 1st century AD.

<1> Chapman P. (Editor), 2008, Archaeology in Northamptonshire in 2007, p.295 (checked) (Article). SNN106430.

<2> Horne B. (Editor), 2008, South Midlands Archaeology: CBA Group 9 Newsletter (38), p.41 (checked) (Journal). SNN106282.

<3> Carlyle S.; Clarke J.; Chapman A., 2011, Archaeological Investigations Along the Route of the Empingham to Hannington (Wing Extension) Pipeline Rutland and Northamptonshire January 2008 to July 2009 (Report). SNN108656.

<4> Carlyle S. Clarke, J. and Chapman, A., 2017, Iron Age, Roman and Anglo-Saxon settlement along the Empingham to Hannington Pipeline in Northamptonshire and Rutland, p. 31-33 (Monograph). SNN110605.

Record last edited

Sep 17 2024 10:14AM