Monument record 3507/1/4 - Neolithic, Bronze Age to late Iron Age settlement ('Settlement 3'), North of Hardwater Road

[Part of the Wollaston Quarry project] A compact group of small enclosures along with a possible ditched trackway and two intersecting pit alignments were identified on aerial photographs. Trial trench excavation undertaken in 1990 ahead of gravel quarrying identified Neolithic pits and Iron Age features. Subsequent excavation found further Neolithic pits from which numerous hazel nutshell fragments and charcoal was recovered. Also identified was a pit alignment and an early Iron Age pit. Later, a probable settlement or stock area dating to the late Iron Age or Iron Age/Roman transition was created. The partly enclosed settlement (60m × 25m) lay near a routeway and may have been either short-lived or agricultural.

{1} Settlement and pit alignments (SP 89556382), on alluvium at 45m above OD. Air photographs (in NMR) show a compact group of small enclosures, with a possible ditched trackway approaching from the S.W. Two intersecting pit alignments lie immediately to the E. and another isolated enclosure to the N.

{2} Air photographs show two pit alignments running NNE-SSW and NE-SW for 150yds and meeting at about SP89546377. to the NW are two small conjoined rectangular enclosures of c 1/4 acre, the most northerly divided by an E-W ditch which runs to the easternmost pit alignment. The enclosures are approached from the S by a narrow ditched path.

{3} Trial excavation in 1990 by D.Jackson. Three small pits of Neolithic date were found in Field 8.

{6} Excavation ahead of gravel extraction. The main excavation area comprised a pair of conjoined Iron Age enclosures which were preceded by a number of small, late Neolithic pits with a dark fill, which made no coherent structural pattern. Further features, as yet undated, with a similar fill, proved to be tree holes.

{7} Archaeological excavation undertaken as part of the wider Wollaston Quarry project. A probable settlement or stock management area was identified within an area containing features dating from the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age, possibly extending into the Late Iron Age. These features included four late Neolithic pits, a pit alignment, and a single early Iron Age pit. Additionally, two ditches and a pit in the same area have tentatively been dated to the Middle to Late Iron Age. These may have formed part of a Middle to Late Iron Age field system associated with either Settlement 2 or Settlement 4.The possible settlement, which was partly enclosed, measured 60m by 25m and was aligned parallel to and adjacent with the routeway on the north-western side. The extent and nature of the features suggest that it was either a small, short-lived Late Iron Age to Latest Iron Age/Early Roman settlement, or it may have served a purely agricultural function. Settlement 3 primarily consisted of two conjoined enclosures, which overlay a double row of pit alignments running north-west to south-east. Another double row of pit alignments was located directly east of Settlement 3, aligned north-east to south-west.

Three possible structures (Structures A, B, and C) were identified, one within Enclosure B and two outside. Each structure comprised groups of postholes, though all were ill-defined, making their character uncertain. Enclosure A was sub-rectangular in plan, measuring 16m by 13m, and was conjoined with Enclosure B on its north-eastern side. On the southern side of Enclosure A, there was an entranceway over 3m wide, flanked by postholes that may indicate a feature across the entrance. Enclosure B measured 20m by 16m internally, and its enclosure ditch was recut up to five times. It appears to have had a funnelled entranceway on its southern side, extending over at least 18m. Structure C was located within Enclosure B and was represented by a concentration of postholes or post-pits, most of which did not form a coherent arrangement. Structure A consisted of seven postholes situated more than 5m west of Enclosure A, within a 5m by 2m area, though they were not arranged in a recognisable plan. Structure B was located directly north-east of Enclosure B and comprised seven postholes spread over a 10m by 6.6m area. During the Late Iron Age to Early Roman period, the enclosures fell out of use and were cut by a ditch aligned north-west to south-east, which abutted another ditch aligned north-east to south-west. In the 1st to 2nd century AD, a routeway passed through the area, defined by two parallel ditches approximately 20m apart and aligned north-east to south-west. The considerable width may suggest use for stock movement or as boundary plots. Two additional parallel ditches adjoined the eastern side of the eastern ditch.Activity in the Late 2nd to 3rd century AD included an area of metalling recorded over a 20m by 4m stretch within the central zone between the two Early Roman ditches.




{5} A number of small late Neolithic pits with a dark fill, which made no coherent structural pattern.

{6} Three small pits of Neolithic date revealed in Field 8, representing the only monuments of early prehistoric activity located in the survey area.

<1> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1979, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p. 177/Site 7, Fig 156 (Series). SNN77380.

<2> HOLLOWELL R., 1971, Aerial Photography and Fieldwork in the Upper Nene Valley, p. 18/ Wollaston (4) (Journal). SNN106546.

<3> Jackson, D, 1990, Pioneer Aggregates site, Wollaston (Notes). SNN116817.

<4> Shaw M., 1993-4, Wollaston, Pioneer Aggregates Quarry, P185 (Note). SNN104157.

<5> Jackson, D., 1991, An Archaeological Evaluation at Wollaston, p82 (Article). SNN40385.

<6> Curteis M.; Musgrave E.; Tingle M. (Editors), 1993-4, Archaeology in Northamptonshire, 1993 (Article). SNN104207.

<7> 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.29-31 (Monograph). SNN116677.

Record last edited

Feb 9 2026 8:58AM