Monument record 4974/0/6 - Late Iron Age Settlement, Newport Pagnell Road

Archaeological excavation prior to housing development revealed elements of a late Iron Age enclosure and ditch system. The site produced a small pottery assemblage tightly dated to the late Iron Age, 1st century BC, and the terminals of the main enclosure ditches all contained significant deposits, including a near complete burnished jar, and also a bottom stone from a rotary quern. The animal bone comprises the main domesticated animals, with sheep dominant and perhaps forming economic base for the settlement. A pit and a ditch produced quantities of charred cereal seeds of barley oats, wheat and spelt wheat, and the pit also produced a rich assemblage of weed seeds. The excavated site forms the western part of a more extensive area of contemporary settlement, partially excavated in 1968, but to the east occupation also continued through the 1st century AD

{1} Geophysical survey and trial trench excavation identified two linear features which were found to be Iron Age ditches, probably associated with the activity to the east. Pottery all dated to the Iron Age, with a few sherds of Scored Ware dating to the middle Iron Age. The bottom stone of a quern was found as well as small quantities of animal bone and charred cereal grain.

{2} Excavation prior to development of the former allotments. Ditch systems DS1, DS2 and DS3 formed the western end of a small enclosure c.12m wide and at least 30m long. DS1 and DS2 were both substantial V-shaped ditches 0.8-1.0m deep. DS3 appears to have limited the northern entrance formed by a gap between DS1 and DS2, and comprised a shallow gully system which closed access through the opening. This latter system and the two ditch terminals of DS1 and DS2 flanking it, produced the largest pottery groups from the site, including a near complete vessel. The southern terminal also contained a complete bottom stone from a rotary quern, thus suggesting that this area was a focus for domestic occupation.
The U-shaped ditch forming the western end of the enclosure could have accommodated a roundhouse 9-10m in diameter. Three of the postholes may then have formed an eastwards facing doorway 2m wide. Further postholes would have lain within the postulated roundhouse, perhaps holding the frame for an internal fitting, such as a vertical loom.
There were no clear ditches forming the southern part of the enclosure, although the ditch system DS4 may have fulfilled this function, forming a sub-enclosure occupying the eastern end of the main enclosure, perhaps functioning as a stock corral, as seen within many Iron Age enclosures.

The function of the linear ditch systems to the south is unclear, but as they both ran down a shallow slope towards the south, they might have served as a combination of boundary and drainage ditches. It is possible that a roundhouse was located in the western end of the enclosure to the north and one of the ditches may well have served as a run off for water from the roof.

<1> Mason, P; Butler, A, 2006, Archaeological Geophysical Survey and Trial Trench Evaluation, Hardingstone Allotments, Northampton, November 2005 (Report). SNN105440.

<2> Upson-Smith T., 2013, Archaeological Excavation at The Former Allotments, Newport Pagnell Road, Hardingstone, Northampton 2013, p. 11 &38 (Report). SNN109886.

Record last edited

Nov 11 2022 12:03PM