Monument record 5089/0/5 - Middle Saxon enclosures/field system

A linear field system of conjoining enclosures set upon a north facing ridge line created at some point during the 5th to the 9th centuries. Initally interpreted as Iron Age or Roman

{1} Geophysical survey was undertaken of an extensive area of land at Pineham Zone H in 2014. North of a linear boundary was an extensive complex of rectilinear enclosures which are largely devoid of internal features and may represent parts of a field system rather than a settlement. The full arrangement of the enclosures has not been clearly detected (perhaps due to disruption by later ploughing), but there are places where different elements intersect, suggesting that more than one phase of development is represented.

{2} Archaeological trial trench excavation was undertaken on land at Pineham. A network of rectangular enclosures was clearly defined by narrow and shallow ditches. Small amounts of pottery of Iron Age and Roman date were recovered from a small proportion of the ditches. A base sherd of Nene Valley Colour Coat (c 250AD), reused as a disk, was recovered from the fill of one ditch. A sherd of early Anglo-Saxon pottery was recovered another. A bulk soil sample identified a wide range of cereals, charcoal as well as insect remains and bones from amphibians.

{3} An open area, strip, map and sample (SMS) excavation was undertaken in 2015. Between the 5th and 9th centuries, probably towards the latter end of that time frame, a field system comprising a set of conjoined enclosures or plots was constructed on the north facing ridge line, encompassing an area of at least 3.51ha. The individual rectangular plots themselves were north to south aligned and defined by ditches.

There were a minimum of three phases of enclosure. The initial smaller phase comprised ditches on the eastern side of the SMS area. These may have had Iron Age or Roman antecedents and perhaps marked the continuation of features from the 2006/7 SMS excavations to the east. A small quantity of Saxon pottery was recovered from the initial phase probably as a product of final infilling. The main phase shifted the enclosures further to the west. There were at least nine plots, some of which had been modified at least once creating larger units. In general, the fills were homogenous soils although they were much darker and organic towards the western side of the enclosures. A similar pattern is suggested by initial analysis of the pottery which was derived from contexts across the ditch system. There was a greater concentration of material towards the western end. Two ‘doughnut’ shaped ceramic loom weights were also from this area. This suggests that the western side of the enclosures may have had a more domestic/working focus with livestock management concentrated in the eastern plots.

<1> Meadows, A, Walford, J, and Simmonds, C., 2014, Archaeological geophysical survey at Pineham Expansion Zone H, Northampton, p. 5 (Report). SNN110116.

<2> Simmonds, C., 2015, Archaeological trial trenching on land at Pineham, Zone H Northamptonshire Interim Statement May 2015, p. 8 (Interim Report). SNN110361.

<3> Simmonds C., 2017, Archaeological excavation on land at Pineham Zone H, Northamptonshire September 2015 to May 2016: Assessment report and updated project design (Report). SNN110986.

<3> Simmonds, C, 2019, Archaeological Excavations on land at Pineham Zone H, Northamptonshire September 2015 to May 2016 (Report). SNN112261.

<4> Horne, B (editor), 2016, South Midlands Archaeology (46), p. 43 (Journal). SNN111326.

Record last edited

Oct 10 2019 10:36AM