Monument record 6670/0/1 - Probable late Bronze Age/early Iron Age unenclosed settlement

An unenclosed settlement extending over a large area comprised a sparse scatter of pits, four- and two-post structures, a possible roundhouse and a cobbled trackway

{1} Iron Age features found during trial trenching. A scatter of nine small pits and five gullies or ditches. One slightly curving gully may represent an eaves-drip gully of a round house. Further pits and gullies contained only small quantities of Iron Age pottery.

{2} A number of Iron Age pits and ditches were also found at SP98247308.

{3} Evaluation trenches cut in 1990 identified a group of Iron Age features some 250m south-east of Oak Ditch in a position without any marked concentration of surface finds. They consisted of a scatter of nine small pits and five gullies or ditches. Plan. Upslope a series of occasional, but perhaps unrelated, small pits and gullies were found to contain only small quantities of Iron Age pottery and may have been the source of the surface scatter.

{4} Excavation at Warth Park identified a number of pit groups, posthole structures and a cobbled trackway dating to the late Bronze Age to early Iron Age period.

The cobbled trackway was aligned north-east to south-west in the south-western corner of Area 1, was at least 94m long and lay immediately to the north of features identified in 1990. An undated ditch located 20m to the north may have been related. Further to the north and east was an area of sparse activity including three pit groups and a four-post structure. A large proportion of the pits were large storage-type pits. However, one had a burnt clay lining and two charcoal rich fills and two located 20m to the south had high quantities of burnt stone. Many of the pits contained early Iron Age pottery.

{5} The area covered by late Bronze Age/early Iron Age remains appears to have been around 7ha. The unenclosed settlement comprised pit groups, a possible roundhouse, a anumber of four- and two-post structures, fencelines and internal boundaries as well as an extensive cobbled trackway. Two pits may have contained 'special' or selected deposits; one contained four cylindrical loomweights along with a glass bead while the other contained the articulated remains of a pig buried beneath large rocks.

<1> Parry S., 1993, Raunds Area Survey Report, p.105 (unchecked) (Draft). SNN1175.

<2> Parry S.; Webster M., 1991, Scalley Farm, Raunds (Centre SP 9820 7320), p.69 (checked) (Article). SNN108337.

<3> Parry S. et al, 2006, Raunds Area Survey: An Archaeological Study of The Landscape of Raunds, Northamptonshire 1985-94, p.180+Fig 6.16 (checked) (Book). SNN105780.

<4> Bush, L., 2015, Neolithic and Iron Age to Saxon activity at Warth Park, Raunds, Northamptonshire: Post-excavation assessment, p. 16-18 (Report). SNN110369.

<5> Bush, L., 2017, Warth Park, Phase II, Raunds, Northamptonshire: Excavation report (Report). SNN111248.

<6> moan, L and Billington, L, 2024, Cotton 'Henge' to Craft: Neolithic to Anglo-Saxon remains at Warth Park, Raunds, Northamptonshire (Monograph). SNN116601.

Record last edited

Sep 19 2024 3:50PM