Monument record 4092/0/1 - Iron Age activity, Jack's Green

The southern half of a rectilinear enclosure with internal ditched subdivisions was identified during geophysical survey and subsequent trial trench excavation in 2018. The northern half of the enclosure lies under Great Byards Sale. A small amount of middle to late Iron Age pottery was found in the ditch fills. Subsequent excavation of the site prior to development identified an earlier Iron Age phase of quarrying as well as a later enclosure.

{1} Geophysical survey undertaken in 2018 identified a set of ditches, arranged in a sub rectangular pattern, defining part of an enclosure with a central partition. The remainder of this enclosure lies outside the survey area under Great Byard’s Sale.

{2} Trial trenching was undertaken in 2018. One trench investigated the northern arm of the enclosure, which was aligned north-west to south-east. It was very shallow but contained two sherds of non-diagnostic Iron Age pottery and thirty-four fragments of poorly preserved animal bone. At the southern end of the same trench was a re-cut ditch, likely to be an internal subdivision within the enclosure. Eight sherds of middle to late Iron Age pottery, including some scored wares, were recovered from the latest ditch in the sequence as well as a small amount of animal bone.

{4} Excavation was undertaken prior to development. Area 2 encompassed the Iron Age activity identified during the previous phases of evaluation containing the remains of an early phase of quarrying, likely for the well bedded limestone in this area, followed by a series of superimposed enclosure systems that were orientated on a north-east to south-west alignment. Scored Ware recovered from the quarry fills suggests a middle Iron Age date for the quarrying. The enclosure identified during the earlier phases of evaluation was found to be of two phases.

<1> Walford, J, 2018, Archaeological geophysical survey at Jack’s Green, King’s Cliffe
Northamptonshire (Report). SNN111551.

<2> Shipley, A. and Cronogue-Freeman, C., 2018, Archaeological trial trench evaluation at Jack's Green, Kings Cliffe, Northamptonshire, August 2018 (Report). SNN111552.

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

<4> Douthwaite, A, & Reid, A, 2019, Archaeological mitigation works on land at Rockingham Forest Park, Wansford Road, King's Cliffe, Northamptonshire, February-March 2019 (Report). SNN111932.

<4> Finn, C, 2020, Archaeological mitigation on land at Rockingham Forest Park, Wansford Road, King's Cliffe, Northamptonshire, https://doi.org/10.5284/1083484 (Digital archive). SNN112459.

Record last edited

Feb 25 2025 8:10PM