Monument record 5930/1 - Site of Iron Age/Roman iron working and agricultural activity

An area of intensive industrial activity including a number of bloomery furnaces, one of which was radiocarbon dated to BC 170 – AD 40, as well as quarry pits and at least one corn-drying oven in the eastern part of the area. A number of cropmarks lie in the western part. The cropmarks comprise partial enclosures, boundary ditches and a possible ring ditch which were identified on aerial photographs during Northants NMP.

[It is unclear how these features relate to the recorded cropmarks]
{1} In the centre of Area 1 a series of linear, rectilinear and curvilinear anomalies can be seen. They appear to form a series of three enclosures with a general longitudinal axis oriented northeast to southwest. Areas of magnetic debris with a very high magnitude are located within and around these enclosures and are likely to be responses to thermoremnant material with a very high ferrous content. The magnitude of these areas of magnetic debris suggest that they may be responses to spreads of bloomery material associated with former iron smelting. It is possible that several strong discrete dipolar anomalies are also associated with iron smelting furnaces.
A moderately enhanced “L” shaped positive anomaly is located within the centre of Area 4. This anomaly appears to form two sides of a rectilinear feature with a curving south-western corner and has observable dimensions of approximately 63m by 44m. Approximately 35m along the longest edge there appears to be a 2.5m gap, which may represent an entrance. This “L”shaped anomaly corresponds to the extent of the cropmarks identified from aerial photography within this field. Although the anomaly appears to end abruptly, it is possible that another low magnitude “L” shaped anomaly forms the north-western corner of this possible enclosure, although it is not certain if they are associated.

{2} Groups of furnaces were identified in two adjacent trenches in Area 1. They were cleaned and recorded but only one complex was fully excavated. The main furnace structures comprised grey clay with internal diameters of c.0.4m. The inner face of the furnace walls had been burnt red but the outer edges had been less affected by heat and maintained their original light grey colour. The clay at the outer edges was also softer and the exact edge of the furnaces was often difficult to define, due to slumping of the clay. Charcoal and slag was present at the bases of the furnaces and two separate pits, provisionally interpreted as tapping pits, were identified. This group of furnaces is being actively damaged by ploughing, as a plough scar was observed cutting across one of the furnaces and its tapping pit.

Ironstone outcrops on the sloping land in the north part of the site and an extraction quarry was located in this area, in Trench 64 . A second possible quarry pit was situated c.100m to the northwest in Trench 65. Both pits are adjacent to the furnaces and were within or adjacent to a possible enclosure defined by two ditches.

A group of small sub circular pits may have had an industrial function since each contained one or more lumps of slag, although there was no charcoal or ash, meaning they were unlikely to have been furnaces. They may have been related to the agricultural processes also being undertaken in the vicinity. There was a well-preserved T-shaped corn-drying kiln or malting oven and two further similar structures were recorded in other trenches. The cereal assemblages from the final firing of the ovens was dominated by wheat, predominantly spelt, whilst hulled barley and oats formed lesser components. No crop processing residues from the earlier stages of crop processing were readily identified. The presence of a broken rotary quern in the backfill of a robber trench also indicates that crop processing was being undertaken. The agricultural features and the quarry pits generally dated to the 3rd -4th centuries, while the industrial features appeared to be earlier. The robber trench and part of a wall suggests the presence of a building.

{3} In Trench 63 two clusters of inter-cutting furnaces were found, an AMS date for one is Cal BC 170 to Cal AD 40 (at 2 sigma calibration). Both groups are less than 3m2, which reinforces just how small these industrial features are that may have produced tonnes of iron and significant quantities of slag. The excavated furnaces may have consisted of more than one type as only one - the latest- had been set nearly 0.5m into the limestone brash. The slags suggest that a non-tapping technology was employed. A circular pit also found in the Trench may have been used for ore roasting. Smithing, probably of the blooms, occurred close to these furnaces as is attested by the hammerscale assemblages. In neighbouring Trench 65 slags had been discarded or placed centrally in a group of pits. Apart from the slag and a very limited amount of charcoal there were no other finds in the pits, which had little else in common being a variety of shapes and depths.

{4} Cropmarks of partial enclosures visible on aerial photograph.

<1> Donaldson, K. T., 2005, Geophysical Survey Report - Wakerley, Northamptonshire (Full Report). SNN105069.

<2> FELL D., 2006, Archaeological Evaluation: Land At Wakerley, Northamptonshire, 2006 (Report). SNN105689.

<3> FELL D., 2005, Archaeological Evaluation: Land At Wakerley, Northamptonshire (Appendices), p. 77/ Cowgill (Report). SNN105691.

<4> Vertical Aerial Photograph, HE AP: 28170_045 flown 27 June 2011; Accessed 03/12/2024 (Aerial Photograph(s)). SNN112695.

<5> Northamptonshire SMR Collection of Aerial Photographs (Aerial Photograph(s)). SNN104822.

Record last edited

Dec 3 2024 1:18PM