Monument record 8086/0/1 - Early-middle Iron Age settlement, Barby Reservoir

Occupation began in the early Iron Age with small scale occupation on the hill top. During the middle Iron Age the settlement expanded with an alignment of possible round houses associated with small enclosures. Later a series of adjoining ditched enclosures were laid out which contained roundhouses, yards and pits. Of note was evidence for the production of copper-alloy horse harness fittings, perhaps a specialist part of the economy.

{1} Settlement spreads back from the rim of the hill to a considerable distance on the flat part of the hilltop. No limit to the settlement was detected.
A significant number of very distinct circles stand out in the plots, of a range of diameters (c.8-14m), consistent with the gullies of late Iron Age round houses. Some may have eastern facing entrances, and there may be several overlapping phases of construction.

{3} A watching brief undertaken during the construction of a new service reservoir revealed, in an area approx 25x30m, at least six intercutting ring ditches, gullies and pits dating to the mid to late Iron Age and likely to represent walling trenches and drip gullies from roundhouses. The site would appear to represent part of a settlement extending beyond the limits of the excavation in all directions.

Several of the probable round house features were cut by two later large and well maintained boundary ditches of a similar date. The site would appear to represent part of a settlement extending beyond the limits of the excavation in all directions.

{4}The excavation and watching brief was undertaken from 2009 to 2015. The earliest features, two pits, on site are dated, by the presence of fingertip-decorated pottery, to the Early Iron Age. One of the pits, which was broad, shallow and flat-based, contained large quantities of domestic debris. The pit, together with associated postholes, was tentatively interpreted as the sunken-floored living space of a dwelling.

Subsequently, there was an open settlement comprising an alignment of possible roundhouses with associated small enclosures which seem to have formed part of an unenclosed settlement. No dating evidence was recovered from these features, but were likely to be middle Iron Age. These remains are clearly part of a wider area of settlement; further remains are evident to the east of the site (as revealed by the BHAP survey), whilst the extent of occupation to the west has been lost to the construction of the existing Barby Hill Reservoir.

The settlement was later parcelled into enclosures through the excavation of large enclosure ditches. These respected one another, suggesting that they were created at the same time with either co-operation or central control. These enclosures were durable features, remaining in use throughout the Middle Iron Age occupation. The dateable finds from the Middle Iron Age remains date to the 4th to 1st centuries BC.

Two of the roundhouses were sufficiently well-preserved to elucidate their construction- a ring of internal timber uprights and a central post supported the roof weight, whilst non-load bearing wattle and daub walls surrounded the post-ring, providing a living area some 8m to 11.5m in diameter.

A dump of materials associated with metal casting was found in a roundhouse drip gully. They included mould and crucible fragments probably for the casting of horse harness fittings dateable to 300-100BC. The same deposit included eight small iron sheet fragments and iron slag pieces, indicating that iron working also occurred on the site.

The animal bone assemblage is dominated by cattle and sheep/goat, with horse also present, and it seems likely that the settlement’s economy was primarily based on these species. The open area to the north of the settlement, as seen on the geophysical survey plot, may have been communal grazing, whilst the enclosures to the south-east of the site could have provided corrals. The small enclosures and subenclosures exposed within the site could have functioned equally as corrals, fodder stores or the settings for workshops/outbuildings.

There were also pits for storing grain, though no four-post structures, as well as evidence of iron-working and smithing and copper working.

<1> Hatton G., 2012, Barby Hill Archaeological Project: Project Report, Year 1, 2011/12, p.16-17 (part checked) (Report). SNN108302.

<2> Hatton G., 2013, Barby Hill Archaeological Project: Project Report, Year 2, 2012/13, p.16-17 (part checked) (Report). SNN110543.

<3> Horne B. (Editor), 2010, South Midlands Archaeology (40), 40/18 (checked) (Journal). SNN107083.

<4> Hart, J., 2016, Barby Reservoir, Barby, Northamptonshire: Archaeological Excavation, 2016 (Report). SNN110744.

<5> Crank, N. (Editor), 2017, South Midlands Archaeology (47), p. 35 (Journal). SNN111362.

<6> Hatton G., 2015, Barby Hill Archaeological Project: Project Report, Year 3, 2013/4, p.16-17 (part checked) (Report). SNN111645.

<7> Cotswold Archaeology, 2023, Digital Archive from Multiple Archaeological Excavations at Barby Reservoir, Barby, Northamptonshire 2009, 2014 and 2015, https://doi.org/10.5284/1103169 (Digital archive). SNN114786.

Record last edited

Apr 4 2024 10:47AM