Monument record 1160/107/2 - Medieval/Post Medieval Cultivation Soil, Swan Street

Medieval and post-medieval cultivation soils identified during trial trench evaluation indicating that there was little change in land use here until the expansion of the town in the 19th century.

{1} The lowest horizons within four of the trenches opened indicated the presence of gradual accumulations of loamy soil which varied in thickness, partly due to possible quarrying, but principally due to the level of truncation along St John’s Terrace. The soils produced pottery ranging from the mid C13th to C14th.
A C16th/C17th copper alloy jetton was recovered from an upper layer in Trench 4 indicating that the soil accumulation continued into the post medieval period. Post medieval deposits pre-dating the C19th foundry were difficult to identify but map evidence suggests that there was no discernable change in land use here until the town expanded in the C19th. The uppermost horizon was c.100mm think and produced a single sherd of late C15th/C16th Cistercian ware and an early C18th clay tobacco pipe bowl.

<1> Brown J., 2013, An Archaeological Trial Trench Evaluation at Swan Street Car Park, Northampton July 2013, p.8; https://doi.org/10.5284/1104264 (Report). SNN109174.

Record last edited

Apr 30 2025 3:51PM