Monument record 1160/1/76 - C12th building, Northampton Castle Outer Bailey

A stone building within the outer bailey of the castle was excavated during the development of Castle Station. A minor functional building, probably a farriery, it was demolished by the end of the 12th century

{1} A linear slot 0.60m wide x 0.30m deep and with a U-shaped profile, crossed the trench on a similar alignment to the wall to its south. Its fill contained frequent irregular fragments of ironstone and some limestone, including a block of ironstone measuring 200mm x 150mm x 150mm. The fill also contained the largest pottery assemblage from the trench with a wide range of sizes all dated to the C12th. There was also an assemblage of animal bone comprising kitchen waste, including bones with cutting marks and an articulated ankle joint from a cow.
At the southern end of the trench there was a length of ironstone wall running diagonally across the trench on a south-west to north-east alignment. This probably formed the north wall of a building. The wall was 0.60m wide and stood 0.2m high, comprising the bottom two or three courses faced with flat-laid roughly squared ironstone, and a core of smaller rubble. There were some traces of an orange-brown gritty and sandy mortar both between the stones and on the base of the construction trench to the east, where the wall had been totally robbed.
To the south of the wall its face was abutted by a sequence of probable floor surfaces, including patchy areas of reddened scorching. Above was a layer of disordered smaller fragments of ironstone within a matrix of grey sandy loam. It contained some charcoal, pottery and bone, and is probably contemporary with the levelling of the wall.
The presence of only C12th pottery in association with the wall and the overlying soils would suggest that the building had a short lifetime, being both constructed and levelled within the C12th.
A stone deposit to the north of the wall was up to 1.3m wide and comprised a low heap of dense tumbled and disordered fragments of ironstone with occasional limestone, some up to 300mm long. Many fragments of ironstone had reddened edges, suggesting that they had come from stonework perhaps once forming part of an oven. The exposed stones typically had rounded edges or surfaces, indicating that they had been either worn or were exposed to the elements for some time. To the south a partially surviving single course of larger ironstone slabs may have formed a rough kerb, but these were not squared and did not form a straight edge. The gap between the wall and the stone surface formed a sunken channel 0.55m wide that would have acted as a drain.

{2} The stone building within the outer bailey of the castle was fully excavated, although it was much disturbed by recent drains. It was 9.4m long by 4.5m wide, with ground-laid, un-mortared walls, apart from the western wall which was deeply founded as it abutted the inner face of the outer bailey bank. There was a wide doorway at the eastern end of the northern wall and a large hearth, 2.5m long by 1.2m wide, at the western end of the building. This was a minor functional building at the very western end of the outer bailey, perhaps a farriery. External stone surfaces lay to the south and east, and there were remnants of other walls, perhaps a further small building to the east. The building had a short lifetime, as it had been levelled by the end of the 12th century. Thereafter, there was no further building within this part of the outer bailey.

{4} Excavation was undertaken of the building prior to development of the new railway station. It was 11.0m by 5.6m enclosing a single room. A complex of hearths survived in the western half of the building. Soils samples from the hearth waste produced cereal waste. Further scorchd areas were identified outside the building to the east. The large numbers of plain cooking pots associated with the building are the sort of vessel that would have been utilised during the preparation of food. The building was demolished towards the end of the 12th century.

<1> Chapman A., 2012, Archaeological Evaluation of the Concourse at Northampton Castle Station, October 2012, p.12-17 (checked) (Report). SNN108451.

<2> Horne B. (Editor), 2014, South Midlands Archaeology (44), p. 43-44 (Journal). SNN109842.

<3> Chapman A, 2014, In Search of Northampton Castle (Article). SNN111357.

<4> Chapman A, 2016, Excavation at Northampton Station 2013-2015, within the outer bailey of Northampton Castle: Assessment Report (Report). SNN111850.

<5> Chapman, A, 2018, Excavation and watching brief within the Outer Bailey of Northampton Castle 2013-2015 (Report). SNN112762.

<6> Chapman, A, 2021, Late Saxon and Saxo-Norman occupation beneath the Outer Bailey of Northampton Castle, p. 79-127 (Article). SNN112912.

<7> Chapman, A, 2021, Excavation within the Outer Bailey of Northampton Castle, 2013-15, p. 191-255 (Article). SNN112915.

Record last edited

Feb 2 2022 2:42PM