Monument record 1160/295/1 - Pike Lane

Pike Lane was formally laid out in the 14th century

{1}Pike Lane runs between Gold Street (now Marefair) & St Mary's Street;

{4}Pike Lane runs between Marefair & St Mary's Street;

{5} Layers of demolition material were each bounded by an ironstone wall, believed to be opposite side of a late medieval stone building. Outside each wall was a deep cultivation soil. The building may have been erected over earlier pits as beneath the rubble lay compacted layers of ironstone rubble and a greenish grey loamy soil. Alongside this lay a deposit of grey ash and charcoal. All produced early medieval pottery.This stone building would appear to be fronting onto the former Pike Lane. [These walls were later found to be walls bounding Pike Lane]

{6} The formation of what became Pike Lane seems to have been a gradual process. A ditch at the southern end of the site may have marked its eastern edge at an early stage. It produced a rich assemblage of charred plant material. Pike Lane appears in deeds from the 14th century. It was not a route required for access and was probably a planned development of one of the long strip of holdings that ran between St Mary's Street and Gold Street. Probably as part of this the lane was more formally defined between two roughly parallel ironstone walls, possibly straightening the lane and connecting separate sections. At the north end a gully ran down the centre of the road. Early surfaces included the use of ironstone rubble overlain by compacted clay layers.

<1> Speed J., 1610, Map of Northamptonshire, (checked) (Map). SNN559.

<2> Noble; Butlin, 1746, Town Map, (checked) (Map). SNN430.

<3> Roper; Cole, 1807, Map of The Town of Northampton, (checked) (Map). SNN621.

<4> Wood; Law, 1847, Town Map of Northampton, (checked) (Map). SNN752.

<5> Soden I., 1998, Archaeological Evaluation at Barclaycard, Marefair, Northampton - Stage 2: Trial Excavation, p. 5 (Report). SNN39581.

<6> Museum of London Archaeology Service, 2005, Saxon, medieval and post-medieval settlement at Sol Central, Marefair, Northampton, p.27 (Full Report). SNN105717.

Record last edited

Sep 1 2016 12:11PM