Monument record 5787/1 - Mid-late Iron Age Settlement and early-middle Saxon boundaries, Berry Hill Close

Trial trench excavation in 1991 and excavation in 1992 identified the partial remains of a large ditched enclosure, a single pit and part of a probable roundhouse dating to the middle-late Iron Age. A cluster of 50 postholes and a metalled trackway skirting the northern enclosure ditch may also have dated to this phase. Early-middle Saxon boundary ditches were also identified. The lack of later Saxon and medieval occupation was particularly noticeable given the proximity of a contemporary ringwork

{1} Four trial trenches were excavated in 1991 in a small area of land proposed for a graveyard extension. The assessment produced evidence of an early Iron Age settlement. Subsoil sealed the settlement, but the course of one of the ditches may be reflected in an earthwork which crosses the area. No evidence for activity associated with the ring work was found. Three gullies and a post hole were found within the enclosure; not all of these contained pottery but their stratigraphic positions were all equivalent to that of the enclosure ditch. The post hole was overlain by a stone post-pad. A soil lens above an Iron Age posthole within the enclosure contained a small sherd of late Saxon pottery, hinting at an otherwise undefined phase of activity. Ridge and furrow earthworks are present in most of Berry Hill Close.

{3} A large Iron Age enclosure defined by a ditch 3m wide and 1.7m deep running east-west. Numerous potsherds were recovered from the dithc including several flat-topped, upright rims from a round-shouldered bowl.

{4} Excavation of an area of 20mx28m was excavated in 1992. The remains of a large enclosure ditch were located and dated to the early Iron Age on the basis of a small pottery assemblage from its infill. Other ditches and a single post-hole were also attributed to the same period of occupation.
Following the demise of the enclosure, domestic activity seems to have ceased as denoted by a layer of sterile silt which had accumulated over the ancient trackway and also survived within part of the subsidence hollow of the enclosure ditch. A small quantity of Roman pottery indicates some form of activity at the same time but the few sherds are genuinely small and abraided suggesting the site was in a marginal location relative to nearby settlement.

Features possibly contemporary with the enclosure ditch included a curvilinear gully 0.36m wide and 0.2m deep forming an arc in the south-western corner of the excavation. At the south the feature had been largely destroyed by later ditches. Two small post-holes were present in its base.The slot probably represents the western half of a structure.
A concentration of 50 postholes, together with a single possible post-pad, may denote other structual elements but lack any meaningful pattern. A single sherd of Romano-British pottery was found in one posthole while a fragment of an Iron Age vessel came from another. Both sherds were small and abraided.
A shallow pit cut the upper fill of the eastern enclosure ditch and contained 14 sherds of Iron Age pottery.

Part of a metalled trackway covered by a layer of silt. Its surface comprised a single layer of tightly packed ironstone, limestone and pebbles, 0.15m thick, gradually petered out. This part of the metalling had survived because of its position in a shallow hollow. Two discontinuous wheelruts denoted that the feature had once been much wider. Dating by two sherds of Iron Age pottery.

A group of 7 ditches were recorded in the southern half of the excavation where they appear to represent successive remodelling of a single boundary. The features partly bisect part of the Iron Age settlement. Ditches F23 and F46, both approx 2m wide and 0.7m deep, formed part of a single boundary. Traces of at least one recut were recorded. 9 early-middle Saxon and 2 Roman sherds were found in the feature. A third ditch which also formed part of the group may denote an earlier phase of the boundary and contained grains of both rye and free-threshing wheat. The other ditches were smaller and shallower; one contained 3 small abraded sherds of Iron Age pottery.

Medieval activity is cheifly denoted by a thick layer of arable soil which was present over the entire site, together with a large pit and a shallow linear feature.

{5} Investigation revealed the north-east corner of an Iron Age enclosure which was defined by a substantial "V" shaped ditch, up to 5m wide at the top and over 4m deep. The enclosure ditch had been re-cut several times. Along its inner edge, a narrow zone of ground, up to 6m wide, was largely devoid of earth-cut features, suggesting the former existence of a bank. Close to the corner of the enclosure, a series of postholes within the corridor may denote some form of associated structure. Otherwise, there was no evidence of the original form of any raised defences which may assumed to have been substantial, given the quantity of up-cast from the digging of the ditch. It is clear that any early bank was totally levelled, presumably thereby also infilling the ditch where only a shallow depression had remained to be backfilled by later cultivation.

{7} Within that part of the enclosure which was examined by excavation, the arc of a curving gully formed the remains of a roundhouse or hut-circle. A scatter of postholes implies the existence of other structures though insufficient area was available for investigation to determine their original number or form. Outside the enclosure, a metalled track occupied a hollow way running at an angle beside the main ditch.
The next identifiable phase of activity comprised the laying out of a series of ditched enclosures, although the precise nature of land division of which they formed part remains unknown. Small assemblage of early/middle Saxon type, retrieved from the infillings of some of the ditches.

<1> Keevill G.D., 1991, SMR report form (SMR Report Form). SNN48916.

<2> OXFORD ARCHAEOLOGY UNIT, 1991, CULWORTH, BERRY HILL CLOSE: ARCHAEOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT REPORT, (unchecked) (Report). SNN57091.

<3> Pike, A (ed), 1992, South Midlands Archaeology: CBA Group 9 Newsletter (22), 22/42 (checked) (Journal). SNN100613.

<4> Audouy M., 1993, Excavations at Berry Hill Close, Culworth, Northamptonshire, 1992, p.47 (checked) (Article). SNN40454.

<5> AUDOUY M., 1992, SMR Report Form, (checked) (SMR Report Form). SNN50315.

<6> Audouy M., 1992, Archaeological Investigation at Berry Hill Close, Culworth, Northants 1992: Updated Research Design, (checked) (Report). SNN1941.

<7> Shaw M. (Editor), 1993, Northamptonshire: Northamptonshire Archaeology Unit, Report for 1992, 23/46 (checked) (Report). SNN39924.

Record last edited

Mar 22 2019 11:14AM