Monument record 4986/0/6 - Iron Age settlement and Saxon smelting furnace, Summerfields Road

Archaeological investigation undertaken during the construction of the housing estate south of Hunsbury Hill Farm identified Iron Age features although identifying features in the ironstone geology was difficult. A Saxon shaft furnace had been cut into the top of an Iron Age ditch. Patching of the furnace indicates it was used more than once.

{2} Iron Age features noted during roadworks and in foundation trenches included a number of ditches and at least 8 pits. Some of the pits comprised vertical-sided, flat-bottomed examples of storage type. Some of the pits are likely to have been quarry pits. The quarry pits were irregular in outline and depth and in places appear to have been excavated along shallow seams of iron ore. Both slag and burnt clay occurred in their filling and it is reasonable to assume that iron smelting was carried out in the vicinity.
The small oval furnace was 30x20cm internally and lined with a vertical clay wall up to 5cm thick, which survived at a height of 15cm. The furnace was set within a larger pit some 60cm in diameter. The pit itself had been excavated into the fill of an earlier Iron Age ditch. The intervening space between the furnace and the sides of the pit had been packed with clay, presumably to improve the insulation. The shaft of the furnace had been patched, or relined suggesting multiple use.
A small slag pit was sited adjacent to the furnace opening on the east and a small amount of slag survived on the base. Several large stones postitioned at the mouth of the furnace had perhaps formed a facing or support between the furnace shaft or slag pit.

<1> JACKSON D., 1990, SMR REPORT FORM, (checked) (Note). SNN49680.

<2> Jackson D, 1993-4, Iron Age and Anglo Saxon Settlement and Activity Around the Hunsbury Hillfort, Northampton, p.37-38 (checked) (Article). SNN104120.

<3> Musgrave E.C.; Tingle M. (editors), 1991, Archaeology in Northamptonshire 1990, p108 Northampton Summerfield (Checked) (Article). SNN100325.

Record last edited

Mar 17 2026 3:02PM