Monument record 9563/1 - Undated features, Farndon Road

Geophysical survey and trial trench excavation identified a series of undated features, including a possible ring ditch and the flanking ditches of a possible trackway, detected by geophysical survey parallel to the present road. Further east two quarries were identified, targeted on outcrops of the bedded limestone. No finds were recovered from the backfill, suggesting that the features were of some antiquity.

{3} A small circular anomaly c.15m in diameter was identified in the north east part of the site.

Ditches located in trench 4 correlate with the geophysical anomaly. The ditch was 2m wide and 0.42m deep with steep sides and a flat base. 3 worked flints, 2 pieces of animal bone and 2 fired clay crumbs were recovered. The flints are likely to be residual.
The apparently isolated location and lack of associated features and finds make this unlikely to be a roundhouse drip gully; a burial monument is more likely although these tend to be found in more prominent locations.

The trial trench excavation identified a number of undated features, including the flanking ditches of a possible trackway, detected by geophysical survey parallel to the present road.The two parallel anomalies were identified parallel to the present road in the north west and were spaced 4.8m apart. The northern ditch was 1.2m wide and 0.52m deep with steep sides and an irregular base. The southern ditch was only 0.8m wide. Neither ditch contained any finds.
The ditches would appear to define a trackway which could have been a forerunner of the modern round between Hinton and West Farndon. Further east two quarries were identified, targeted on outcrops of the bedded limestone. No finds were recovered from the backfill, suggesting that the features were of some antiquity.
A series of furrows, with typically shallow concave profiles, in the central and southern parts of the evaluation area, are characteristic of medieval and later arable cultivation. A series of deeper linear features identified towards the northern margin of the area are thought to be later cultivation features

The trenching also revealed a possible circular posthole, 0.25m in diameter. The saturated ground conditions prevented investigation of this feature. A number of linear anomalies were also identified in the northern part of the site. There was a substantial ditch 1.45m wide, which truncated the ridge and furrow remains. Excavation of the ditch was not possible but the examination of the surface didn't reveal any finds.

<1> Flitcroft, M., 2013, Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment: Land at Farndon Road, Woodford Halse, Northamptonshire, p.14 (checked) (Report). SNN109447.

<2> STRATASCAN, 2013, Farndon Road, Hinton, Northants: Geophysical Survey Report, (unchecked) (Report). SNN109337.

<3> Gregson, R.; Wells, J. & Edmondson, G., 2014, Land Off Farndon Road, Hinton (Woodford Halse), Northamptonshire: Archaeological Field Evaluation, p.7,11-12 (checked) (Report). SNN109326.

Record last edited

Feb 26 2025 8:07PM