Monument record 1160/3/7 - Possible Civil War Bastion, Upper Mounts

Possible retaining wall for Civil War mount

{1}Remains of wall foundation; large rough-hewn ironstone blocks set in trench 1.6m wide; heavily robbed in C17th; underlying C17th pit indicates wall was short-lived structure & constructed & demolished within century; possible retaining wall for Civil War mount but insufficient length to determine; very heavily worn & clipped silver long-cross penny recovered from wider wall but date unknown due to state of wear;,

{2}Short-lived & ironstone structures were built over deep & wide ditch in C16-17th; subsequently reduced to foundations & site extensively quarried;,

{3}Earlier ditch overlain by remains of 2 wall foundations set on converging alignment & approximately at right-angles; northern ends had been removed by later quarrying; both foundations comprised large rough-hewn ironstone blocks set in trench; walls 1.6m wide & 0.7m wide respectively; westernmost wall was heavily robbed in late C16th-C17th & overlay C16/17th pit thus indicating short life-span; possible interpretation of retaining walls for artillery bastion or mount but widely different widths make association problematic; residual fragments of medieval window glass were recovered including some with traces of red-ochre paint; also recovered from narrower wall foundation were fragments of clay tobacco pipe; a fragment of ironstone window tracery was recovered from foundations of wider wall section;

<0> Chapman A, 1996-7, Northampton, Campbell Square, (unchecked) (Note). SNN104089.

<0> Welsh T.C., 2000-01, Documentary Sources for The Course of The Medieval Town Wall, Northampton, (unchecked) (Article). SNN103958.

<1> SODEN I, 1995, AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVALUATION ADJACENT TO CAMPBELL SQUARE, UNSPECIFIED, (unchecked) (Report). SNN1089.

<2> SODEN I, 1996, SMR REPORT FORM, (unchecked) (Notes). SNN49318.

<3> SODEN I, 1996, ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATION OF LAND ADJACENT TO CAMPBELL SQUARE, NORTHAMPTON, 1995-6, 7+12 + FIG.8 (Report). SNN40894.

Record last edited

Jun 25 2018 11:35AM