Monument record 5709 - Middle and late Iron Age settlement, east of Banbury Lane

Settlement originating in the middle Iron Age with limited continuation into the later pre-'Belgic' Iron Age. The settlement comprised a broadly linear sequence of roundhouses and semi-circular enclosures. The roundhouses appeared to have a domestic function, while the enclosures probably had an industrial/agricultural function. There was a boundary ditch to the north-west.

{1} The results of the survey identified a concentrated area of strong magnetic anomalies in the south eastern corner of the development site. The bulk of the identified anomalies comprised a series of superimposed circular features, which were interpreted as the drip gullies to ‘roundhouses’ of late prehistoric and/or Romano-British date. The main area of occupation activity may be bounded to the north by a weak linear feature which could represent a minor ditch or earthwork. Away from the south-east corner, the geophysical survey identified very limited evidence for archaeological activity of potential significance within the proposed development site.

{2} The trial trenching confirmed the results of the geophysical survey, revealing that most of the archaeological features were concentrated in the south-east corner of the development site.
For the most part the archaeological features comprised ditches and gullies apparently representing the remains of roundhouse dwellings and boundary ditches, indicative of a Middle to Late Iron Age settlement; the pottery suggesting within a broad period, between the 4th and 1st centuries BC. A ‘surface’ of compacted limestone and sandstone fragments was identified close to the eastern boundary of the proposed development site. A sherd of Iron Age pottery was found associated with this surface.

{3} Archaeological excavation was undertaken in 2014. A small quantity of unstratified, possibly Neolithic flint tools represented the earliest activity on site. The earliest, and most prolific, phase of settlement dated to the Middle Iron Age and comprised a series of pennanular ring ditches and semi-circular enclosures bounded to the north by a boundary ditch aligned north-east to south-west. The larger semi-circular enclosures may have performed an industrial or agricultural function. Large amounts of fuel-ash slag found in the fills of some of the ditches was thought likely to originate from the burning of the wattle and daub structures.

<1> Bartlett, A., 2012, Land at Hampton Drive, Kings Sutton, Northamptonshire Report on Archaeological Geophysical Survey 2012, (checked) (Report). SNN108531.

<2> Clarke, J., 2012, Archaeological Evaluation of Land North of Hampton Drive, Kings Sutton, Northamptonshire September 2012, p.5 (checked) (Report). SNN108423.

<3> Partridge, A. & Bain, K., 2017, Land north of Hampton Drive, Kings Sutton, South Northamptonshire: Updated Project Design (Report). SNN111176.

<4> Claire Christie and Kate Bain, 2023, A Middle-Late Iron Age settlement at Hampton Drive, King's Sutton (Article). SNN116520.

Record last edited

Oct 22 2024 1:02PM