Monument record 4630/0/1 - Iron Age double-ditched enclosure

A large, bi-vallate, sub-rectangular enclosure identified as a cropmark and confirmed by archaeological investigation. Iron Age pottery was recovered from the ditch fills.

{1} Enclosure and ditches (SP 771553) on glacial sand and gravel at 82m above OD. Air photographs show cropmarks of a rectangular enclosure only 0.25 hectares in area with an entrance in the E side and a large pit in the NW corner. Traces of ditches are faintly visible to the E.

{2} NCCAP: SP7755/01-02

{4} A large, bi-vallate, sub-rectangular enclosure, which was observed in two trenches, but only excavated in one. The inner ditch was up to 2.0m wide and 1.21m deep, the outer ditch was up to 7.0m wide and 3.0m deep. It contained a complex sequence of fills and appeared to have been recut more than once. There were a number of internal features, including pits and gullies, which may represent internal divisions. Iron Age pottery and animal bone were found in most of the features. Diagnostic sherds of pottery from the upper fills of the inner ditch could be dated to the early 1st century AD.

<1> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1982, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.121/Site 3 (checked) (Series). SNN77382.

<2> Northamptonshire SMR Collection of Aerial Photographs, (unchecked) (Aerial Photograph(s)). SNN104822.

<3> Butler, A., 2008, Geophysical survey of land at Wootton, Northampton September - December 2007 (Report). SNN106506.

<4> Carlyle, S., 2008, An archaeological evaluation of land near Wootton, Northampton October 2007 to January 2008, p. 25-26 (Report). SNN106507.

<5> CHADWICK P., 1999, Archaeological Desk Based Assessment: Wootton Fields Extension, Wootton, Northamptonshire, (unchecked) (Report). SNN63162.

Record last edited

Feb 10 2025 7:41PM