Monument record 3507/1/3 - Bronze Age, Iron Age and Roman settlement ('Settlement 2'), North of Hardwater Road

[Part of the Wollaston Quarry project] Settlement 2, located 200m south of Settlement 1 and adjacent to a probable Iron Age to Roman routeway, was a Middle to Late Iron Age enclosed sub-rectangular settlement built over earlier Bronze Age to Early Iron Age pit alignments. Though no early features were found, residual Early Iron Age pottery suggests prior activity. The settlement, abandoned by the Late Iron Age/Early Roman period, contained a ring ditch (likely a roundhouse), paddocks, an animal pen, burial annex, pits, and three wells. A single burial in the southeast corner was isolated by a ditch and accompanied by a nearby well. Additional features included curvilinear ditches, a northeast-southwest aligned ditch, and a Roman cremation south of the enclosure.

{1} Settlement 2 lay 200m to the south of Settlement 1 (3507/1/1), with the probable Iron Age to Roman routeway lying directly to the west of it. It comprised a Middle to Late Iron Age enclosed sub-rectangular settlement, which was similar in appearance to the contemporary Settlement 1 plan. Settlement 2 overlaid the corner of two Bronze Age to Early Iron Age pit alignments on its western and southern sides. Although no early features were recovered within the settlement, it is very likely that at least one existed, as a significant amount of residual Early Iron Age pottery was recovered from a Middle to Late Iron Age paddock ditch. The settlement was abandoned by the latest Iron Age/Early Roman period, with no evidence that occupation had moved adjacent to the enclosed settlement.

Within the enclosure were a ring ditch, an animal pen, four or five paddocks, a burial annex, a few pits, and three wells. The paddocks and ring ditches were often linked by their ditches abutting each other, while the pits mostly lay within the open areas of the enclosure outside the paddocks and ring ditches. The main features, such as the enclosure ditch, experienced stages of recutting, suggesting extended use over time. The enclosure ditch of Settlement 2 was sub-rectangular in plan. Thirteen postholes were spread across the interior of a ring ditch and are likely to have been the remains of a roundhouse. In the southeastern corner of the enclosure, a single burial was separated from the rest of the area by a diagonal ditch with no entranceway. The grave cut was roughly oval in shape but poorly preserved, surviving just below the subsoil. It was oriented roughly northwest to southeast, with the possible adult inhumation laid in a tightly crouched position and the head on the northwestern side. A well was located directly to the north of the burial and formed part of the northeastern corner of the burial annex. There were only a few pits within the enclosure, most of which lay in open areas; some contained burnt cobbles and may have been used for cooking. Two wells were associated with the enclosure: the first situated approximately 10m south of the entranceway, and the second directly east and outside of the entranceway. At least four features within the enclosure dated with some certainty to the Late Iron Age, along with a northeast to southwest aligned ditch that abutted the enclosure on its northern side. Within the enclosure, two curvilinear ditches cut through a ring ditch of the earlier period. A single cremation lay directly to the south of the Middle to Late Iron Age settlement and was the only evidence of Roman activity in this area.

<1> 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.26-29 (Monograph). SNN116677.

Record last edited

Feb 9 2026 8:58AM