Monument record 1760/1/1 - Earthwork of Possible Roman/Medieval Road

Earthwork bank of possible Romano-British road immediately south of the Little Addington parish boundary. A section through the road was excavated in 1967. It was originally thought to be Roman, although this is now considered to be doubtful. Medieval pottery finds were also recovered from the site.

{1} The road is next visible immediately south of the Little Addington parish boundary, as a low bank 8m wide, running north-south for 200m (SP96167428 to SP96197408). In 1967 a section was cut through this bank (at SP962742) revealing an agger, 8m wide, and just under 1m high. It was composed of limestone blocks within clay and gravel. Except for the discovery of medieval pot sherds from the topsoil and on the surface of the road, no dating evidence emerged.

{2} Earthwork bank of possible Romano-British road was sectioned. The road edge to the west and any side ditches were not searched for. A single small medieval sherd was found on top of the road metalling; all other sherds were unstratified.

{3, 8} A low bank runs north-south and continues the straight road from Irthlingborough. The bank is 0.3m high and runs from SP96197417 to SP96227432. It is much ploughed and spread. Fieldwalking identified a scatter of limestone, probably from the Romano-British road.
The cambered road was subject to excavation by A.E. Brown in 1967. It was found to be 25ft wide x 2ft high at its centre. It comprised tightly packed limestone cobbles with clay and gravel. Medieval pot sherds were recovered from above the limestone layer. The road was considered to be either Romano-British or medieval in date.

{5} In the winter of 1964/65, D A Jackson observed a low bank surmounted by a clearly marked belt of limestone scatter running through the two ploughed fields immediately to the east of the road from Little to Great Addington at the northern edge of Little Addington parish. The ridge ran from north to south and had the appearance of a road continuing northwards in the general direction of the straight road which runs from Irthlingborough to Little Addington.

In 1967 a section was cut across the bank. The cambered structure of the road was found, composed of tightly packed limestone cobbles with clay and some gravel, resting on natural red clay. The road was at least 25ft wide but almost certainly not much more than this, and the thickness of the metalling in its centre was 2.5ft, where it reached the surface and was being disturbed by the plough.

{6} Archaeological trial trench excavation undertaken at Amen Corner did not find any evidence of the Roman road.

<1> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1975, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.117 (checked) (Series). SNN77379.

<2> 1967, Miscellaneous Reports, p.33 (part checked) (Chapter). SNN37291.

<3> Ordnance Survey, 1950s/1960s, Ordnance Survey Record Cards, SP97SE25 (checked) (Index). SNN443.

<4> BROWN A.E., 1967, Little Addington, Northants, (checked) (Plan). SNN105109.

<5> Brown, A.E. (Ed.), 1967, Archaeology in Northamptonshire 1966/67 (Roman), p. 33-4 (Article). SNN58197.

<6> Wilson, M, 2020, Land Adjacent Meadowview, Little Addington, Northamptonshire: Archaeological Evaluation (Report). SNN112139.

<7> Crank, N. (Editor), 2021, South Midlands Archaeology (51), p. 66 (Journal). SNN113326.

<8> Baird, J, 1969, Field Investigators Comments, F1 JB 26-NOV-69 (Note). SNN111452.

Record last edited

Jan 29 2024 11:31AM