Monument record 8209/1 - Probable Iron Age/Romano-British settlement, north-east of Field Farm

Geophysical survey and trial trench excavation has identified Iron Age and/or Romano-British settlement remains including ditched enclosures. A small amount of structural debris and a possible stone wall indicates that there may have been buildings on site during the Roman period. A notable find was a cremation burial which was associated with several hundred iron nails.

{2} Trial trench excavation confirmed the results of the geophysical survey. Iron Age features were identified in the south-east including a trackway which was 3.5m wide and a large sub-circular enclosure. In addition to pottery of the 1st century BC, slag, daub and animal bone, a Roman copper-alloy stud and fragments of a metal-working crucible came from the upper fill. The crucibles might date as late as the early medieval period. The function of the enclosure was not clear from the remains, but it may have been for keeping animals. To the north of the settlement was a narrow ring ditch, possibly the remains of an Iron Age roundhouse. To the west Roman features consisted of two enclosures and boundary ditches; pits and post holes; a possible wall; quarry pits; a possible kiln and an un-urned cremation burial in association with several hundred iron nails. The features yielded dating evidence from the 2nd to the 4th centuries. A small amount of structural debris included imbrex tiles, Roman brick and pottery kiln spacers.

<1> Davies, R, 2020, AWHb Final Report for Geophysical Magnetometer Survey at (AC320/1) Chipping Warden, Chipping Warden Green Tunnel, Northamptonshire (Report). SNN112780.

<2> Finn, C and Francis, A, 2021, 1EW03 - Enabling Works Central AWHh – Trial Trench Evaluation at Paradise Farm and Field Farm, Northamptonshire, AC320 (Report). SNN113043.

Record last edited

Feb 25 2025 7:25PM