Monument record 4983/0/1 - Early Age pit alignment, Briar Hill

[Part of the Hunsbury Hill Complex] Pit alignment discovered during development at Briar Hill Farm in 1969. At least 160m long and of at least two phases. Other early Iron Age features were also found.

{1} Excavation by D.Jackson in 1969. An Iron Age pit alignment ran east-west for 170m between SP73955902 and SP74125900. An early phase comprising a double row of small pits was replaced by larger rectangular pits. Probable Iron Age pot sherds and worked flints including two scrapers and two arrowheads were found within the pits.

{2} In 1969 a pit alignment, probably of Iron Age date, and some other Iron Age features were found during construction work for a new housing estate at Briar Hill Farm (SP740589), less than 0.5 mile north of the Iron Age hill fort at Hunsbury.
The pit alignment ran east-west almost parallel to the course of the River Nene at this point. The pits were first exposed in the spring of 1969, but it was not until the autumn that excavation was possible, confirming their nature. The location of the six excavation trenches was limited by builders’ trenches, spoil heaps and stacks of building materials.
The length of pit alignment revealed was roughly 500ft, there being no reason to doubt its continuance both east and west. It was demonstrated to have two, or perhaps three phases, the latest of which was a line of large, deep pits which replaced and in some instances practically destroyed a double alignment of smaller pits or postholes. For this reason it seems unlikely that the entire pit complex was contemporary (eg. with the smaller pits holding vertical timbers).
A shallow gully running roughly parallel to the line of the pits was observed only in Trench D. Its relationship to the pits was not defined.
The chronology of the earlier double row of pits is unclear. The filling of Pit 6 indicates that it originally held a rectangular object, presumably a timber post, some 12in x 6in, with the long axis at right angles to its companion pit, Pit 7. Similar post ghosts were not confirmed in any other of the pits. The bases of the pits were mainly flat, with diameters ranging from 1-2ft. It is unlikely that any of the pits were originally less than 2ft 6in deep.
The larger pits revealed have been assigned to Period 2. The most characteristic feature of the 15 pits excavated was their rectangular or occasionally square plans. The profile of the pits was like an inverted truncated pyramid, but the pit sides were probably originally more vertical. At their top the pits were between 8-10ft long x 6-8ft wide. At their base the width varied from 2-3.5ft, but their length (along the alignment) was usually greater than their width. Evidence suggests that the pits were all 4-4.5ft deep. The distance between the pits was probably originally from 4-5ft. There was no evidence that the pits originally held posts or had been cleaned out or re-dug. It appears that they were left to silt up naturally.
The pits in Trench A and the east end of Trench B contained darkened earth and many small, weathered sherds of pottery, suggesting that they may have been cut through an earlier occupation site. These sherds were probably of early Iron Age date, but no occupation layer of this period was identified.
No dating evidence was found in the pits at Briar Hill as all the finds were residual, but similar pits elsewhere have been established as Iron Age in date.

<1> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1985, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.276/Site 11 (checked) (Series). SNN77383.

<2> JACKSON D., 1974, Two New Pit Alignments: 1. A New Pit Alignment at Briar Hill Farm, Northampton, p.13-32 (checked) (Journal). SNN21472.

<3> Ministry of Public Buildings & Works, 1970, Archaeological Excavations, 1969, p. 11 (Report). SNN47013.

Record last edited

Feb 3 2025 8:05PM