Monument record 3776/1 - Middle-late Iron Age and Roman settlement, Dales Lodge Farm

A rural settlement developed in the Middle Iron Age, probably the 2nd century BC, and continuing into the late Iron Age, with its focus on the upper side of the south-west facing slope. A large sub-rectangular enclosure was constructed in the middle Iron Age and maintained and refined through the late Iron Age and into the Roman period. Inside were thirteen middle Iron Age ring ditches, likely to be domestic round houses. Only three were maintained into the late Iron Age. A possible pottery kiln was located outside the enclosure. Further smaller enclosures were also present. During the Roman period, settlement largely moved to the south and this area was dominated by agricultural activity.

{2} The enclosure ditch was investigated during the evaluation. It was 3.3m wide and 1.8m deep with near vertical sides and a wide concave base. The fills contained Iron Age pottery, burnt stone, animal bone (including a bone from a fallow deer) and flint.

{3} The settlement comprised a series of circular structures defined by ring ditches and a number of small paddocks set within a sub rectangular enclosure that exploited the natural contours and geological features. A minimum of 13 ring ditches were identified that appear to have enclosed domestic dwellings, as well as livestock enclosures and ancillary structures. The main enclosure extended beyond the northern limit of excavation. It was remodelled in the late Iron Age and shifted slightly to the west. The western terminal of the entrance in the latest version had been revetted with stone, presumably to prevent erosion of the entrance causeway. Enclosure 1 was again remodelled in the Roman period, however, access was from the west, beyond the northern limit of excavation. The access route was emphasized by the remains of a metalled surface flanked by ditches. The surface, comprising a mix of clays and stone, overlay the poorly consolidated soils which comprised the backfill of the middle and late Iron Age ditches.

Some of the 13 ring ditches had evidence for redefinition and maintenance, and they were not all in contemporary usage. The majority are likely to have been ring ditches associated with domestic roundhouses and ancillary buildings with south-east or east facing entrances. However, two (RD2 and RD13) had opposing entrance ways and are likely to have been non domestic in nature, possibly associated with some form of processing that required partial shelter and a through draught. Ring ditch (RD9) was redefined on several occasions and may have been the main roundhouse in the settlement. A single four-post structure was situated 4m to the west of roundhouse RD10. It was possibly a granary.

Internal structures within the ring ditches were not clearly defined, although a posthole circuit within elaborated ring ditch (RD9) may have been the remains of a building. Paired door posts were identified in three of the ring ditches RD7, RD5 and RD9. The settlement may have originally been unenclosed, but an enclosure was constructed around it at some point; a deliberate kink in the enclosure around RD8 indicates that it was a later addition. A number of the ring ditch structures were retained into the late Iron Age (RD7, RD9 and RD11).

A shallow oval pit just outside the outer enclosure is likely to have been used during pottery production. There was some scorching of the pit sides and base but it appears not to have been repeatedly fired. Large lumps of under fired clay fragments had collapsed into the pit from the super structure. The presence of a small pit just to the north containing pottery waster vessels supports the interpretation that there was pottery manufacture in the area during the Middle Iron Age.

The environmental and artefactual evidence indicates that the settlement was associated with mixed agriculture. Sheep are likely to have been farmed in association with a variety of arable crops. These crops were processed and stored within the settlement.

Outside the enclosure to the west was an area of small-scale pottery production, comprising a pit with fired clay and a pit containing waster vessels.

Between the 1st century AD and middle part of the 2nd century AD the main focus of occupation shifted to the south, just outside the area of the current works. The late Iron Age settlement and enclosures ceased to function and were replaced by an extensive farming landscape defined by paddocks. There was evidence for cereal processing and low level industry comprising the manufacture of ceramics and also sand or ironstone extraction.

Cultivation trenches (DG1 and DG2) were present on the softer soils in Area 1 North. They are thought to be the remains of ‘lazy bed’ cultivation trenches. A cremation burial to the south of DG1 and within the slade. The burial was unurned but Roman pottery was found in the immediate vicinity. Small scale industrial activity continued into the Roman period. The working area to the north of Ditch 1 contained a dumb-bell shaped kiln. No evidence of pottery wasters from the site however. To the west of this was a well from which a fired-clay cylindrical loomweight was recovered as well as three fragments of Roman millstones. To the west of the well was evidence for sub division of the area formed by a number of short lengths of ditch and pits.

<1> Bartlett A., 2009, Dale's Lodge Farm, Barton Seagrave, Northamptonshire: Report on Archaeogeophysical Survey 2009 (Report). SNN110385.

<2> Coates, G., 2009, Archaeological evaluation, trial trenching: Land off Polwell Lane, Barton Seagrave, Northamptonshire, 2009 (Report). SNN107899.

<3> Simmonds C. and Walker, C., 2014, Archaeological excavation on land at Polwell Lane, Barton Seagrave, Northamptonshire, August to December 2012: Assessment report and Updated Project Design (Report). SNN110075.

Record last edited

Feb 26 2025 7:44PM