Monument record 5195/0/2 - Neolithic/Early Bronze Age ring ditch & prehistoric Finds, St Peter's Street

One hundred and forty-seven flints mostly of Neolithic character but including a small mesolithic element and a single palaeolithic scraper were found during excavations at St Peter's Street in 1973–6. Part of a possible Neolithic or early Bronze Age ring ditch was located and a few small and abraded sherds of prehistoric pottery were recovered. In the later St Peter's Gardens excavations a small early Bronze Age collared urn was found lying on its side in a shallow depression. It is likely it served as an accessory vessel to a nearby but lost cremation burial, which was probably a satellite burial to the ring ditch.

{1} Earliest level was 'subsoil' of weathered ironstone & sand from which came several struck flints; above this two other layers predated Saxon features excavated.

{3} Excavation recovered 147 prehistoric flints, mainly dating to the neolithic, but also some mesolithic egs. And a palaeolithic scraper. A possible neolithic/early Bronze Age ditch was also identified, and a few small and abraded prehistoric pot sherds. SP75036035. North-south running ditch seen in trenches A & F; maximum of 4m wide x 1.5m deep cutting ironstone; arcing gently; large limestone blocks in fill suggest possibility of stone walling or facing on its west side; large concentration of worked flints of mostly neolithic date from fill of ditch; possibly site of small defended farm on well drained knoll overlooking marshy environs of Nene; this interpretation not supported sampling from site which suggests dense scrub or woodland with absence of grazing animals or arable farming;

{4}St Peter's Street 1973; at west end of site north-south running ditch about 4m wide x 1.5m deep cut into natural ironstone; ditch fill sterile; possibly prehistoric;

{5}St Peter's Street 1974; at west end of site ditch about 4m wide x 1.5m deep cut into natural ironstone; no dateable material recovered; probably prehistoric or Saxon;

{6}St Peter's Street 1973; at west end of site ditch about 4m wide x 1.5m deep cut into natural ironstone; followed contours of land surface; no dateable material recovered; possibly prehistoric or Saxon;

{7} An arc of ditch excavated at St Peter's Street in the 1970s had an internal diameter of 23m and was probably a round barrow dated to the late Neolithic/early Bronze Age. The ditch fills produced small scraps of pottery and a small flint assemblage. The snail assemblage indicated an environment of local scrub and woodland. An almost complete early Bronze Age collared urn was found lying on its side in a shallow depression beneath the eastern annex of the middle Saxon timber hall. It would seem likely that the collared urn had served as an accessory vessel to a nearby but lost cremation burial, probably a satellite cremation to the ring ditch 35m to the west.

<1> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1985, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.323/Site 1c & d (checked) (Series). SNN77383.

<2> Chapman A., Northampton Castle: A Review of The Evidence, (checked) (Unpublished Report). SNN2966.

<3> Williams J.H., 1979, St Peter's Street, Northampton: Excavations 1973-1976, p. 137 (Report). SNN342.

<4> WILLIAMS J., 1974, Northampton Development Corporation Department of Architecture and Planning Report, p.22 (checked) (Newsletter). SNN3667.

<5> Hall, D N, 1975, South Midlands Archaeology: CBA Group 9 Newsletter (5), 25-6 (Journal). SNN9947.

<6> Brown A.E. (Editor), 1975, Archaeology in Northamptonshire 1974, p.167 (checked) (Report). SNN41605.

<7> Chapman, A, 2021, Prehistoric Northampton: A circular ring ditch and flint scatters, p. 17-24 (Article). SNN112907.

Record last edited

Mar 20 2025 12:29PM