Monument record 153/1 - Middle Iron Age Settlement, Brackley Foxhills

Archaeological investigation north of Poppyfields Way revealed an extensive area of open settlement dating to the middle Iron Age. Three distinct foci of activity each comprised ring gullies and large numbers of pits and postholes. The site's economy appeared to have an emphasis on grain processing and storage.

{2} Geophysical survey comprising scanning followed by detailed magnetometry identified two ring ditches in this field; three other circular anomalies in this field are less well defined and therefore the interpretation is more cautious;

{3} A detailed magnetometer survey of c 7.6ha of land to the north of Brackley identified part of an unenclosed Iron Age settlement. In the south and south-western part of the field there is a relatively dense cluster of ‘pits’, with at least three associated ring ditches. More centrally, there is one ring gully and, to its north an ambiguous feature which has an annular form but seems to be formed of discrete pits. To the east, there is a group of ring ditches, most of which are defined by unusually narrow magnetic anomalies. The overall appearance is of an unplanned settlement, quite similar in character to the middle Iron Age site previously excavated to the west;

{4} Trial trench excavation confirmed the Iron Age date of the archaeological features identified by the preceding geophysical surveys. The archaeological features were located on the top of a north-east facing slope in Field 1, and consisted of a group of roundhouse ring ditches, postholes and pits. A single posthole produced Early Iron Age pottery, sherds of a small carinated bowl decorated with impressed zigzag line probably dating no later than the 6th century B. It may form part of an early settlement, the remains of which comprise only postholes and pits. The majority of the pottery, including the material associated with the roundhouses, is dated to the Middle to Late Iron Age, 4th to 1st centuries BC. The combination of the survey and evaluation results indicates that many of the curvilinear ditches are likely to be parts of roundhouse ring ditches, with at least twelve present within the survey area. A single large pit produced a mixed pottery assemblage, including some large storage jars, dating to the late Pre-Roman Iron Age, indicating that occupation had continued into the early decades of the 1st century AD although there is no evidence to indicate that the roundhouses were still in use at this time.

{5, 6, 7} Archaeological excavation ahead of residential development identified a middle iron Age agglomerated settlement with three separate foci. The occupation extends in a broad east-west swathe across the centre of Field 1, linking up with similar remains previously discovered at Brackley Sawmills to the south, Radstone Fields to the north-west and on the site of the BP petrol station to the east. All the sites have settlement remains of similar appearance, characterised mainly by ring ditches for probable roundhouses, a large number of square four-post built storage structures and mulitple grain-storage pits in distinct groupings with multiple phases of re-organisation.
The settlement probably developed in the early Iron Age, with the main phase of activity in the middle Iron Age and subsequently declining in the late Iron Age. The utilitarian nature of the artefacts and the nature of the features demostrate the focus on an agricultural economy, with an emphasis on large-scale grain processing and storage of cereals. The presence of a large number of grain storage facilities in association with the moderate number of saddle querns indicates grain production and processing was a central function of this settlement.

<1> CHADWICK P.; STEPHENSON A., 1999, Archaeological Desk Based Assessment: Land North of Brackley, Northamptonshire, (checked) (Report). SNN63160.

<2> Chester, F., 2007, Geophysical Survey Report: The Robson Land, Radstone Fields, Brackley, Northamptonshire, p.6 (checked) (Report). SNN108283.

<3> Walford J.; Pelling R.; Fisher I., 2012, Archaeological Geophysical Survey at 'Site 637', Brackley, Northamptonshire July 2012, p.4 (checked) (Report). SNN109215.

<4> Jones, C. & Chapman, A., 2012, Archaeological Trial Trench Evaluation at Foxhills, Brackley North, Northamptonshire, p.11 (checked) (Report). SNN108430.

<5> Morris, S, 2017, Archaeological Excavations on land at Foxhills, Brackley, Northamptonshire: Assessment Report and Updated Project Design, 2017 (Report). SNN111231.

<6> Morris, S, 2019, Archaeological excavations on land at Foxhills, Brackley, Northamptonshire: February-May 2016 (Report). SNN115877.

<7> Stephen Morris, 2023, A Middle Iron Age settlement at Foxhills, Brackley (Article). SNN116515.

Record last edited

Jan 18 2025 2:28PM