Monument record 5581/1 - Probable Saxon industrial & funerary activity

An Anglo-Saxon iron working site has been found at Blacky More on Hunsbury Hill during housing development. An isolated inhumation was also present. Two small sherds of Saxon pottery were the only dating evidence. A Saxon coin was also found to the north-west

{1} Anglo-Saxon sceatta of the Primary series, BMC type 2a, of c.690-725. Found in housing development at SP 7559 5691. Photograph at Northampton Museum.

{2} A shallow circular pit filled with slag and burnt clay was exposed during soil clearance for a new roadway (Verdant Vales). The pit was 1m in diameter but there was no evidence for in situ burning. Further soil stripping revealed further concentrations of slag and possible pits but these were not investigated. Two small sherds of Anglo-Saxon pottery were found during cleaning. The slag patches were situated on the side of a small valley and immediately to the east a service trench exposed further features.

A probable ditch containing dark soil and animal bones was revealed 40m north of the slag patches but the feature was undated.An inhumation burial was revealed some 10m south of the slag patches. The burial was unaccompanied and lay face down in a very shallow grave.

It seems reasonable to assume that this iron working site dates to the Anglo-Saxon period.

{3} Shallow pits filled with slag and burnt clay were exposed in a new road cutting and a few small sherds of Anglo-Saxon pottery were found on their surface.

<1> Dix B.(ed), 1986-7, Archaeology in Northamptonshire 1985-6, 21/156 (checked) (Report). SNN100334.

<2> Jackson D, 1993-4, Iron Age and Anglo Saxon Settlement and Activity Around the Hunsbury Hillfort, Northampton, 25/41 (checked) (Article). SNN104120.

<3> Jackson, D., 1990, SMR Report Form, (checked) (SMR Report Form). SNN49684.

<4> Musgrave E.C.; Tingle M. (editors), 1991, Archaeology in Northamptonshire 1990, 23/108 (checked) (Article). SNN100325.

Record last edited

Feb 5 2025 6:21PM