Monument record 1725/1 - Cotton Henge

A henge monument located some 500 metres to the east of the monument complex at West Cotton, and excavated as part of the Raunds area project. The site had initially been identified as a cropmark on air photographs. The monument comprises two concentric sub-circular ditches, the outer measuring between 70 and 75 metres across, with the long axis orientated northwest-southeast. The inner circuit is circa 21 metres in diameter. Geophysical survey and excavation was undertaken in 1993 by the Central Excavation Unit. Previously the area had been fieldwalked as part of the Raunds Area Survey and had produced the most extensive surface flint scatter from within the Raunds area. The outer ditch circuit is continuous and may have been accompanied by an internal bank. The area inside the inner ditch may have been mounded. Few artefacts were found, and no samples suitable for radiocarbon dating were recovered during initial evaluation. Flint artefacts from the ditch fills are broadly Neolithic, but otherwise not particularly diagnostic, and it has not proved possible to establish a relative sequence for the various phases of the monument. Despite its distance from the West Cotton monuments, the henge is clearly related to them - when projected eastwards, the axis of the long mound (SP 97 SE 85) passes through the henge. Complete excavation of the monument undertaken prior to development in 2017 appears to prove that the inner ring ditch post-dates the large outer circuit and may be the remnant of an early Bronze Age barrow.

{1} A double ring ditch showing as cropmark; other linear features may also be archaeological.

{2} Four trenches revealed a roughly circular ditched enclosure approximately 70m in diameter. A second inner circular ditched enclosure of 21m diameter was located at centre of the larger enclosure. Unlike 'classic' henges with one or more entrances, the outer ditch circuit here is unbroken. In its surviving, untruncated form, within Trench 1 the outer ditch was c.2.4m wide x c.1m deep. Both inner and outer ditches were V-shaped in proflie with flat bases. In its surviving, untruncated form, within Trench 1 the inner ditch was c.1.8m wide x c.0.45m deep. Both inner and outer ditches were V-shaped in proflie with flat bases. In accord with the contours the surviving dimensions of the outer ditch were less in Trench 3 and greater in Trench 4.

{4} Ring ditch 17m in diameter.

{5} A henge located on a slight promentory formed by two valleys. The postion allows views across the Raunds Brook and southwestward up the Nene Valley. It was identified as a cropmark, confirmed by magnetometer survey. It appears as a double ring ditch which seems to have been constructed from roughly straight lengths of ditch to form an almost circular plan. The inner ditch was about 21m in diameter while the outer ditch had an elliptical plan with a major axis of 75m and minor axis of 70m. No apparent entrances were noted in either circle. Early Neolithic activity is suggested in the area of the henge by the nature of flint found in the area which includes a leaf-shaped arrowhead and two laurel leaves found between the henge and a dry valley. It is not possible however to link these artefacts to the construction of the henge.

{6} During 1993 the monument was evaluated by metric survey, geophysical survey and excavation. The cropmark known as Cotton Henge comprises two concentric ditches, the outer ditch being slightly elliptical with a major north-west to south-east axis of 75m, a minor axis of 70m, and an inner ditch approximately 21m in diameter.
Soil sections through the ditches did not provide clear evidence for banks or mounds, although sieved stone fractions from a transect of test pits cut through the overburden along the axis of Trench 1 suggests that the area within the inner ditch may have been mounded, and that an internal bank may have been associated with the outer ditch.
The characteristics of flint artefacts found within the ditch fills are compatible with a Neolithic date, but it has not been possible to establish the relative sequence of construction and use of the two enclosure ditches. The ditches had been backfilled, quite possibly to represent the purposeful decommissioning of the monument.
In conjunction with the lack of an entranceway, the relatively slight nature of the ditches and the possibility of an internal bank do not conform with the typical notion of a henge. The monument may represent a distinctive regional variant of large Neolithic ceremonial circles, comparable sites elsewhere in Northamptonshire and the south and east midlands are known from cropmarks, although few have been excavated.
In its local context, Cotton Henge might have provided the link between the living and the dead, as attested by the extensive flint scatters on the valley side and by the wealth of monuments in the valley bottom.

{8} Trial trench evaluation was undertaken across a wider site as part of a planning application for development. The monument was investigated by two trenches.

The outer ditch was investigated to the west, in Trench 43. The original ditch had been U-shaped, 0.76m deep with a broad flat base 0.65m wide and steep sides that only survived at the base of the cut. It would have been 1.2-1.4m wide at the present level of the natural. A little grey silt had accumulated in the base of ditch before there was a substantial deposit containing ironstone coming in from the eastern, inner, side, which intermingled with dark grey ashy silts, containing charcoal, coming in from the western, outer, side of the ditch. This marked difference in the primary silting was provisionally interpreted as indicative of recutting, but seems more likely to relate to differential filling, perhaps as a result of the presence of an adjacent bank. The ironstone-rich fill on the east side could have come from either loose/eroded bank material or erosion/collapse of the ditch sides, but the charcoal-rich fill must have come from either direct dumping or the erosion of some surface deposit marking a human intervention in the natural processes of silting and erosion. The lower secondary fills, which accumulated against the eroding edges of the ditch, were also all grey to dark-grey fairly stone-free silts, and the depth of fill against the western side of the ditch, contained further charcoal, similar to the primary fill, perhaps confirming the presence of some surface deposit that was eroding into the ditch.
The upper secondary fills may be more useful in identifying the location of a bank, and the sequence of varied fills coming in from the west, the outside of the henge, would suggest that the bank lay on this side. The lower secondary fills were overlain by a thin deposit containing much small ironstone and this was sealed by a more mixed deposit of orange-brown loams containing some ironstone, with an upper secondary fill containing more ironstone. These layers were all coming from the west, the outside, and would be consistent with material derived from the erosion of an external bank of upcast natural, and occurring as the outer edge of the ditch eroded and perhaps undercut an adjacent bank. The outer edge had been disturbed by animal burrowing.

The final fill comprised dark orange-brown loams with little ironstone, similar to the overlying subsoil.
Four worked flints were recovered from the outer ditch; a blade from the primary fill, another blade from an upper secondary fill, and a blade and a flake from the final fill, and another flake came from the topsoil. These five worked flints are a third of the total of 16 flints recovered from the site.

The inner ditch of the henge was investigated in Trench 44. The inner ditch was 1.3m wide by 0.36m deep with a U-shaped profile. The fill contained much small ironstone, partly removed by a recut around the inner part of the ditch that was both narrower and a little shallower, at 0.80m wide by 0.32m deep, with a more V-shaped profile. The lower fill contained some ironstone, but perhaps largely derived from the earlier fill, while the upper fill was of dark orange-brown sandy silt with just a few pieces of ironstone. No flints or other finds were recovered.

{9} A radiocarbon date for the outer ditch gave a date in the early Neolithic. The smaller, inner enclosure, which may have enclosed a mound, as well as the flint scatter across the surrounding slopes, probably date to the late Neolithic to early Bronze Age.

Part of a sample of charcoal from mature oak deposited in the primary and lower secondary fills of the outer ditch has given a date in the early Neolithic (Cal BC 3965-3895/3880-3800, 95% confidence, 5100 +/- 30 BP, Beta-434723).
The radiocarbon date has shown that the at least the outer ditch formed a roughly circular monument, 70-75m in diameter, which could now be called the Cotton Enclosure. The inner ditch is considered to be a later addition (HER 1725/1/1).

{12, 17} Archaeological excavation was undertaken prior to development in 2017. Both enclosure ditches were entirely excavated. Full excavation of the site has demonstrated that the outer ditch was not associated with any significant internal features and that it was a continuous feature, lacking any entrances or causeways. Slight changes in the direction of alignment of the ditch, giving a slight polygonal form, has been taken to indicate that the ditch was originally trench-dug in up to 11 lengths. Given the difficulties with dating the monument, both by form and absolute dating, it can be braodly dated to a period from shortly before 3000 BC and throughout the third millennium BC. This date would make it virtually the only monument constructed in the area in this period.
The inner ring ditch appears to have had an external bank and a bank or mound inside. Its size is typical for round barrows in the region although it is far more simple than most in the immediate vicinity.

<1> FOARD G.R., 1980, ORAL REPORT TO SMR, (checked) (Oral Report). SNN51187.

<2> Humble J., 1993, Archaeological Excavations at Cotton Henge 1993, (unchecked) (Report). SNN46880.

<3> Humble J., 1993, Geophysical Survey Plot, (unchecked) (Unpublished Report). SNN59697.

<4> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1982, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.191 Site 23 (checked) (Series). SNN77382.

<5> Parry S., 1993, Raunds Area Survey Report, p.159-60 (checked) (Draft). SNN1175.

<6> Humble J., 1994, Evaluation of Cotton Henge, Raunds, p.177-8 (checked) (Notes). SNN75827.

<7> Parry S. et al, 2006, Raunds Area Survey: An Archaeological Study of The Landscape of Raunds, Northamptonshire 1985-94, p.203-208 (unchecked0 (Book). SNN105780.

<8> Kidd, B., 2015, Trial trench evaluation on land at Warth Park, Phase 3, Raunds, Northamptonshire, September - November 2015 (Report). SNN110417.

<9> Chapman A, 2017, An early Neolithic enclosure near West Cotton, Raunds, p. 3-10 (Article). SNN110924.

<10> Horne, B (editor), 2016, South Midlands Archaeology (46), p. 44 (Journal). SNN111326.

<11> Bush, L, 2018, Warth Park, Raunds, p. 12 (Article). SNN112135.

<12> Moan, L, 2019, Multi-period remains at Warth Park Phase 3, Raunds, Northamptonshire: Post-Excavation Assessment and Updated Project Design (Report). SNN112254.

<13> Davies, S., 2015, Land at Raunds, Northamptonshire Geophysical Survey Report (Report). SNN110418.

<14> Brown A.E. (ed.), 1981, Archaeology in Northamptonshire 1980, p. 207 (Article). SNN100418.

<15> Windell D.; Chapman A.; Woodiwiss J., 1990, From Barrows to Bypass: Excavations at West Cotton, Raunds, Northamptonshire, 1985-1989 (Report). SNN62621.

<16> Gibson, A. (Ed.), 1989, Midlands Prehistory: Some Recent and Current Researches Into the Prehistory of Central England, p. 85-94 (Series). SNN106973.

<17> moan, L and Billington, L, 2024, Cotton 'Henge' to Craft: Neolithic to Anglo-Saxon remains at Warth Park, Raunds, Northamptonshire (Monograph). SNN116601.

<18> Moan, L and Billington, L, 2024, Appendix 1: Radiocarbon Dating (Report). SNN116602.

Record last edited

Sep 19 2024 3:04PM