Monument record 3507/1/1 - Iron Age to Roman settlement ('Settlement 1'), North of Hardwater Road

[Part of the Wollaston Quarry project] Settlement 1, north of Hardwater Road, was identified via aerial survey and excavated in 1994. It shows early Iron Age domestic activity through three rubbish pits, later developing into a Middle to Late Iron Age farmstead within a sub-rectangular enclosure with ring ditches, postholes, and around 15 pits. Continued activity is evident in the north-west with curvilinear ditches and an overlying enclosure. The farmstead was abandoned, shifting west and south, where Early Roman features include a field system, ribbon development, square enclosure, well with a Roman shoe, and a late 2nd–3rd century stone structure within an L-shaped enclosure. Summary from record 3507/0/10: Linear boundaries comprising pit alignments and ditches Summary from record 3507/0/9: Crop/soilmark: Good quality photography Summary from record 3507/0/3: Roman activity was identified in a small area during evaluation of the wider site in 1990.

{1, 2, 3} Trial trench excavation was carried out in 1990 ahead of plans for quarrying of the area. Numerous pit alignments were identified and many were succeeded by ditched linear boundaries. The Roman activity [located in the survey area] is confined to a small area near the boundary hedge between Fields 6 and 7, and the south-west corner of Field 8. There was no evidence of occupation continuing from the Iron Age into the Roman period.

{5} Archaeological excavation was undertaken across the area of the proposed quarry during the 1990s. Settlement 1, situated north of Hardwater Road, was first identified through aerial survey. Excavation by MOLA in 1994 revealed archaeological evidence that confirmed the presence of a settlement, which was has been designated as 'Settlement 1', a Middle to Late Iron Age farmstead. This was the only location where there was significant evidence for domestic early Iron Age occupation within Wollaston Quarry. The evidence consists of three pits that were found in the area. After disuse they were used as rubbish pits as they contained domestical waste which was dated to the early Iron Age. This area would later develop into the Middle to Late Iron Age settlement and so continuous occupation between the two periods is likely. The Middle to Late Iron Age occupation was within a sub-rectangular enclosure, which was aligned north-west to south-east with the western side enclosure overlying a Late Bronze Age pit alignment. Within the enclosure, there were four probable ring ditches. None were complete and it is possible that two of the ring ditches had been paddocks or small enclosures. Postholes were also present within one ring ditch. An sub-rectangular enclosure was present within the settlement. This was located in middle of the southern extent and had two internal ditches which would may have been a paddock. There were about 15 pits recording within settlement 1 and these were mostly found in the northern extent. Some of the smaller pits were isolated and were clay lined which may suggest that they had been used for cooking. There Is evidence for continued activity in the north western extent of the settlement where we see curvilinear ditches cut features like the ring ditch. The curvilinear ditches were then overlaid by an enclosure. Exact dates cannot be given to the curvilinear ditches and the enclosure. A line of 14 pits were within c2m of the western ditch of main settlement enclosure ditch that also date to this period of continued activity.

The Middle to Late Iron Age farmstead enclosure went out of use and it is likely the settlement shifted directly to the west and south of the former farmstead, of which there is evidence for Early Roman activity. In the south-west area, evidence of a sub-rectangular enclosure. To the south was a probable field system which consisted of curvilinear ditches. These were poorly defined but evidence showed that the ditches seemed to respect each other over a 50m by 30m area. The western side of this field system seems to have been defined by parts of three ditches with two entrances. A possible ribbon development was constructed along the western side of a suspected long-lived routeway. The settlement and field system extent remains unclear due to fragmentary ditches recorded north and south of the main area, with no structural remains or pits found. A square enclosure may have been the domestic focus, though its interior was only partially explored due to a gas main. Additional ditches were recorded nearby, but their functions are uncertain. To the east of the routeway there was a well. This was 1.5m in diameter and more than a 1m deep, the bottom extent was waterlogged and contained most of a Roman shoe.

The remains of a stone structure was uncovered within an enclosure that overlays the previous square enclosure and dates to the late 2nd century and 3rd century. This enclosure fronted onto the western side of the possible routeway and consists of an L-shaped ditch which measured 43m by 40m. Internally, a stone building had survived as an arc, where it sunk into an earlier ditch. About a quarter remained, with the rest likely being robbed or ploughed out.

4th Century activity consisted of a routeway which led to or from a sub-rectangular enclosure. This routeway was recorded for more than 50m long and consisted of two parallel ditches aligned North-East to South West. The sub-rectangular enclosure measured 28.9m by 18.9m internally, had no obvious entranceways and so it is likely that there had been a crossing area possibly from such materials as planks. The enclosure had been sub-divided in half by a ditch with a small entranceway. The enclosure extended to the north on it's Eastern side for more than 30m and there were two related fragmentary ditches. It is likely that these ditches were part of a paddock or enclosure with a small entranceway. Two stone lined wells set 40m apart were found in this location. One well was located to the north of the enclosure, the other was located north-east.

<1> Jackson D.A., 1990, An Archaeological Evaluation at Wollaston for Pioneer Aggregates Ltd. (U.K.) (Report). SNN70063.

<2> Jackson, D, 1990, Pioneer Aggregates site, Wollaston (Notes). SNN116817.

<3> Jackson, D., 1991, An Archaeological Evaluation at Wollaston, 82-85 (Article). SNN40385.

<4> Northamptonshire HER Collection of Aerial Photographs, Used with NMR & CUCAP collections (Aerial Photograph(s)). SNN104822.

<5> Atkins, R and Meadows, I, 2024, Neolithic pits, late Bronze Age/early Iron Age pit alignments and Iron Age to Roman settlements at Wollaston Quarry, Northamptonshire, P. 17-22 (Monograph). SNN116677.

Record last edited

Feb 9 2026 8:58AM