Monument record 4809 - Hunsbury Hill Complex

Neolithic to Roman occupation area

{1} Hunsbury Complex. The W. part of Hardingstone parish, bounded on the N. by the R. Nene, on the W. and S. by Wootton parish and on the E. by the Towcester Road (A43) is one of the richest archaeological areas in the country. This is the result of a number of factors. Its situation, in a region which also includes the major Roman settlement at Duston immediately to the N. as well as the medieval and modern town of Northampton to the N.E., suggests that the area has been for long a nodal point for settlement and communication. The immediate physical environment must have also been important and the N.-facing slope, between 112 m. and 60 m. above OD, mainly on light Northampton Sands, was undoubtedly suitable for early occupation. It is, however, the events of the latest century which have led to the major discoveries and without them it is possible that the evidence for early occupation in the area would consist of little more than the small hill fort of Hunsbury at the top of the slope [SP 75 NW 5], although aerial photography has, as so often elsewhere, led to the identification of many sites. The large-scale ironstone quarrying which took place in the late 19th century, extended over some 40 hectares of land in and around the hill fort, coincided with an upsurge of local interest in the past, with the result that records, though inadequate, were made of discoveries and a large proportion of the objects found were collected and preserved, mainly NM. More recent and even more extensive activity began in 1960 with the expansion of Northampton over this area. The development of extensive housing estates during the last 20 years, altogether with the work of the Archaeological Unit of Northampton Development Corporation, has led to the discovery and excavtion to modern standards of a number of sites which otherwise would never have been recognised.

The complex consists of component sites recorded under the following numbers: SP75 NW 5, 6, 8, 40 to 50 inclusive, 24 and 61.

<1> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1985, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p. 272 Sites 6-19 (Series). SNN77383.

<2> Dyer, C, 1995, RCHME: Briar Hill Causewayed Enclosure Project, AF1048725 (Archive). SNN114643.

Record last edited

Feb 4 2025 8:26PM