Monument record 8368 - Iron Age/Romano-British settlement, north of West Haddon

The remains of an early Roman settlement were identified during the construction of the West Haddon bypass.The earliest occupation, comprising isolated enclosures, was probably late Iron Age/early Roman in date. In the late 1st century AD a Roman settlement was established comprising a series of sub-rectangular ditches enclosures set either side of a sinuous trackway. The material evidence suggests that this was a low status rural settlement with little access to higher class metalwork or imported pottery. A small timber-founded building was identified, but otherwise little structural evidence had survived. A corn-drying oven was also identified and the recovery of a millstone suggests the presence of an animal-powered mill. The settlement appears to have contracted in the 3rd century AD and was abandonned by the mid-4th century AD.

{3} Geophysical survey identified an extensive settlement settlement or farmstead of Iron Age and/or Romano-British date on the hilltop. It comprises a road or street flanked by a number of enclosures and two possible buildings. Trial trench excavation confirmed the results of the geophysical survey and identified further features including stakeholes and postholes. Associated finds suggest that it was a short-lived settlement possibly dating to the mid-1st to mid-2nd centuries. There was evidence of hearths, but these appear to have been of a domestic, rather than industrial origin. No bone had survived in the acidic soils.

{5} The excavation has shown that there was no significant pre-conquest presence; activity was limited to a a small ditched enclosure of possible mid-late Iron Age date and a large late Iron Age/early Roman enclosure. The settlement appears to date from about 50AD and continued to about 150AD. With the exception of a few sherds of Samian ware, no finds indicative of high status settlement were retrieved. The settlement was defined by sub-rectangular enclosures arranged alongside a central sinuous trackway. The central goup of enclosures ran for a distance of 200m east to west, occupying an area of c2ha but with further boundary ditches extending away from the core.
A series of inter-cutting gullies or beam slots defined a small rectangular structure. A c.0.65m wide gap in its perimeter formed a south-facing entrance. To the immediate south was a cluster of three postholes which may have formed part of a gate or porch-type structure. Another structure may have been defined by a group of seven large postholes or pits, five of which were arranged in a roughly circular configuration around two of the smaller pits. A possible roundhouse ring ditch was also identified.
Protruding into the site from the edge of the excavation was a narrow flue-like feature whose sides were constructed from heat-affected large cobbles and a block of ironstone. Burned material was spread over the surrounding area. The deposit within the flue was primarily composed of burned sand and clay and produced a few sherds of late 1st - 2nd century pottery. The burned area north of the flue overlay a small pit which contained late Iron Age/early Roman pottery, charred chaff and cereal grains and black, highly fired porous material. The density of the cereal macrofossils was suggestive of parching waste. It would appear that the flue was feeding something located outside the area of excavation, perhaps a corn drier.
In the late 3rd century AD modifications to the enclosure system included new ditch systems overlying the earlier grid pattern, possibly implying contraction of the settlement. The settlement was abandonned in the 4th century and was marked by a spread of organic, domestic and mineral-derived debris.

<1> CHAPMAN A., 1998, Archaeological Evaluation of Land Along the Proposed Route of the A428, West Haddon Bypass, (checked) (Report). SNN43964.

<2> Masters, P., 1998, Additional Survey Work of Land Along the Route of the A428, West Haddon Bypass, (checked) (Report). SNN39566.

<3> Atkins R., 1998, Archaeological Evaluation Along the Proposed Route of the A428 West Haddon Bypass, Stage 2, (checked) (Report). SNN43669.

<4> CHAPMAN A., 1998-9, West Haddon, (checked) (Note). SNN104050.

<5> Mason P., 2005, An Archaeological Excavation and Watching Brief at West Haddon Bypass, Northamptonshire: Assessment Report and Updated Project Design, (checked) (Report). SNN105413.

<6> Mason P., 2006, A Romano-British Settlement at West Haddon, Northamptonshire, 2005, p.19 (checked) (Report). SNN105687.

<7> Mason P., 2006, A Romano-British Settlement at West Haddon, Northamptonshire, 2005, p.17 (checked) (Article). SNN112199.

<8> Oakley E., 2013, Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment: Land off Guilsborough Road, West Haddon, Northamptonshire, (unchecked) (Report). SNN109623.

<9> Flitcroft M., 2013, Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment: Land East of West Haddon, Northamptonshire, (unchecked) (Report). SNN109624.

Record last edited

May 15 2023 4:34PM