Monument record 4481/0/11 - Possible early 18th Century outbuilding, near the Old Rectory

Remains of a building were encountered in a archaeological trial trench, posssibly an outbuilding that dates to early 18th century. Subsequent ground reduction was undertaken to get a plan of the building.

{1} Machine excavation in Trench 2 uncovered stone foundations of two walls diagonally traversing the trench, one aligned NE-SW, the other NW-SE. Between c0.48 and 0.52m in width, with roughly-faced sides, they had been carefully constructed of coursed rubble (sandstone and limestone). The upper courses were fairly level throughout, which suggested that they were sill-beam foundations for a half-timbered building. The wall foundations were bounded on all sides by rubble which contained occasional 18th century domestic litter - pottery sherds, oyster shells and small fragments of roof tile. All of the rubble most likely represented post-demolition landscaping, probably after construction of a new rectory to the NE in the early 19th century. A hand-dug section was excavated thorugh the wall foundation to establish the period to which the building belonged to. A very small sherd of 18th century salt-glazed stoneware pottery was recovered from within the rubble core. The earliest feature encountered was a floor of well-seate limestone flags and cobbles. This was located c0.34m SE of the wall foundation, it was quite possibly a floor of an earlier building.

{2} Observation and recording during the subsequent excavation of foundation trenches for the new house was beyond the remit of the mitigation. It was therefore inevitable that the external and internal footings would cut through the archaeology. However, the investigation has shown that a portion of the historic building’s walls and floors survives just in front of the NW elevation of the new house.

<1> Martin Wilson, 2025, Archaeological Evaluation: Land Adjacent to the Old Rectory, Church Brampton, Northamptonshire (Report). SNN116986.

<2> 2026, Land Adjacent to The Old Rectory Harlestone Road, Church Brampton Northamptonshire: Archaeological Observations & Survey (Report). SNN117103.

Record last edited

Jun 11 2026 12:10PM