Monument record 8109/2 - Great Cransley Prisoner of War Hostel

A Prisoner of War hostel whose parent camp was Boughton Park Camp (Camp 35). It comprised hutted accomodation and was documented between July 1946 and July 1947. Archaeological evaluation has found evidence of the hostel on land north of Church Lane.

{2} Great Cransley comprised hutted accomodation. In July 1946 there were 120 Italian PoWs, by November 1946 the PoWs were German and in April 1947 there were 43 Romanian Waffen SS PoWs. No longer recorded by November 1947.

{3} Archaeological evaluation identified remains of the hostel. The buildings were demolished c1953 and the rubble was partly used to fill the medieval hollow way, however, some of the building footings were observed as well as several rubbish pits containing significant numbers of artefacts including the sole of a German Low Boot, glass jars and bottles, ration tins and 'Utility' pottery.

<1> Thomas, R.J.C., 2003, Prisoner of War Camps (1939-1948) (Report). SNN103942.

<2> Sanders, Malcolm, 2008, WW2 POW Camps in the UK, https://www.ww2pow.uk/home/camplist/ - site 35 (Accessed 14/04/2023) (Website). SNN115038.

<3> McLeish, A & Early, J, 2023, An Archaeological Evaluation for Land at Church Lane, Great Cransley, Kettering, Northamptonshire, https://doi.org/10.5284/1120199 (Report). SNN115351.

Record last edited

Feb 25 2025 7:07PM