Monument record 1264/1 - Probable late Iron Age settlement, west of Rothersthorpe Road

Geophysical survey and trial trench excavation identified several small enclosures, a ring ditch and other cut features likely associated with a probable late Iron Age settlement. Subsequent excavations refined the dating of the settlement and uncovered a pit alignment.

{1} Geophysical survey undertaken on land to the west of Rothersthorpe Road identified a series of conjoined sub-circular and sub-rectangular enclosures extending east to west across the northern part of the surveyed area. A circular anomaly in the west of the area is characteristic of a ring ditch, possibly a former roundhouse. Several small discrete responses within the area of the settlement are indicative of former backfilled pits.

{2} Trial trench excavation was undertaken in 2018. Eight trenches were excavated and archaeological features were identified in all of them. A total of 24 ditches were identified and Iron Age pottery was found over half of them; it is likely that the remaining ditches were of a similar period. The results of the trial trenching broadly corresponded with the results of the geophysical survey.

{4} Following on from the geophysical survey and trial trenching, an excavation of the area was undertaken in 2021. Majority of the features are within the late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age and the middle and late Iron Age periods. Earliest evidence for activity on the site derives from the pit alignment, covering a total distance of 100m. It is likely that the original purpose of the feature was to be a form of initial boundary landscape as later enclosures follow the same orientation retaining the boundary throughout the Iron Age.

The excavations provided a refined date for the settlement of middle to late Iron Age. It is likely that the settlement started as a relatively small unenclosed settlement with associated enclosures, then became enclosed in the middle Iron Age period. Domestic activity was concentrated at the west extent of the site, with the remains of a roundhouse representing a domestic area. The settlement saw further development as a farmstead in the late Iron Age. The extensive use of the site came to an end following the late Iron age with little further activity identified.

Finds were found from the excavation that include a Iron Ring as well as Iron Age pottery, animal bones and worked flint.

<1> Davies, R., 2017, Geophysical Survey report: Land at Kislingbury, Northamptonshire, October 2017 (Report). SNN111486.

<2> Preece, T., 2018, Archaeological trial trench evaluation of land at Rothersthorpe Road, Kislingbury, Northamptonshire, May 2018 (Report). SNN111589.

<3> Crank, N. (Editor), 2019, South Midlands Archaeology (49), p. 78 (Journal). SNN111755.

<4> Chris Kolonko, 2021, Archaeological Excavation on land west of Rothersthorpe Road, Kislingbury, Northamptonshire (Report). SNN115654.

Record last edited

Feb 25 2025 8:11PM