Monument record 1953 - Iron Age Settlement

Fields to the north and south of the A14 have revealed evidence for late Iron Age settlement in the form of a number of enclosures with internal features and a probable associated field system. Three early Bronze Age cremations have also been found.

{1} Air photographs show a trapezoidal enclosure with an internal division and a pit at the west end. In the surrounding area are various other features forming no coherent pattern.

{2} A large cropmark complex has been observed in one of these fields, in which a few worked flints were found as well.

{4} Part of a wider geophysical survey of land east of Kettering found evidence of Iron Age/Roman settlement in fields immediately to the north of the A14, probably an extension of features found during the construction of the road.

Positive magnetic anomalies in the western half of the field described a D-shaped enclosure, 75m long by 60m wide, with sharply angular, rather than rounded, corners. The enclosure was bisected by a linear ditch anomaly that crossed the whole of Field 14 north to south. In the east of Field 14, there was the northern end of probable rectangular ditched enclosure, 40m wide and in excess of 40m long, which contained a probably roundhouse and other internal features. Adjacent to the north-east corner there
are two overlapping circular positive anomalies, c 20m in diameter. They may be ring ditches around a large multi-phase roundhouse.

{5} Trial trench excavation was undertaken as part of the wider Kettering East development. In the eastern part of the field immediately to the north of the A14, several substantial later Iron Age ditches and pits were excavated. To the west of these a number of small ditches, probably representing part of a later Iron Age field system were encountered.

The features quite possibly represent a small farmstead and associated fields. It is of note that one of the most substantial ditches in this area was re-cut a number of times, suggesting the site remained in use in use for some time. Only 85 sherds of pottery were retrieved from this site, with 29 from a single pit.

{7} Trial trenching of land to the south of the A14 was undertaken. In Trench 30 there were five pits, of which three were examined. All three had near vertical sides and flat bases. Later Iron Age pottery was retreived from two of them. A significant assemblage of charred emmer wheat was found in one.
In trenches 22 and 23 an enclosure and internal features were investigated. The enclosure is sub rectangular and is very small, measuring c45m by 55m, although the ditch was sizable being almost 2m wide and over 1m deep. Internally there was a group of storage pits and at least two very large intercutting pits containing in excess of 3kg of pottery. The pottery assemblage dates to around or a little before the 2nd century BC.

It is possible that something more complex than just domestic activity was taking place here.

{8} Area D was located immediately to the south of the A14 and covered a total area of 1.22ha. Several Iron Age ditches, which appear to have defined enclosures, were recorded, within which were a number of roundhouse eaves‐drip gullies, along with several pits. A further excavation area, Area E, lay to the south and encompassed a total area of just under 0.60ha. An Iron Age enclosure containing several roundhouse eaves‐drip gullies, along with pits was excavated in this area. Further ditches and a pit of Iron Age date were located outside of the enclosure.

{12, 13} Archaeological excavation was undertaken of that part of the Iron Age settlement to the north of the A14 prior to development. The earliest evidence of activity was three separate cremation pits. One of the cremations was interred in an upturned Collared Urn with a jet bead placed inside. It was Radiocarbon dated to 2030-1890 cal BC.

Extensive remains of a middle Iron Age farmstead were revealed. There was evidence of ironworking (mostly smelting with some smithing) as well as assemblages of fired clay and animal bone with only sparse evidence of plant remains. A large, extensively recut, roundhouse ring ditch at the eastern end of the excavation area was likely to be the primary domestic focus and lay within an enclosed area also containing two, lesser, roundhouses, pit groups and a four-post feature. To the west was a large D-shaped enclosure which encompassed a further roundhouse gully and a possible burnt mound or midden. Part of a further enclosure was revealed to its south.

<1> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1979, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p. 15 site 9 (checked) (Series). SNN77380.

<2> Barcham R.C., 1984, The M1-A1 Link Road and Kettering Northern Bypass Archaeological Survey 1983-84. Northamptonshire Archaeology, p. 7 (checked) (Report). SNN46879.

<3> Soden I.; Dix B., 1995, The M1-A1 Link Road in Northamptonshire: Archaeological Observation Along the A14, 1989-94, p. 20 (checked) (Report). SNN73926.

<4> Butler A., 2010, Archaeological geophysical survey on land east of Kettering, Northamptonshire, p. 6 (Report). SNN107967.

<5> Gilmour, N., 2012, Land east of Kettering, Phase A: Archaeological evaluation, 2012, p. 44 (Report). SNN110464.

<6> Richardson, T, 2015, A14 Junction 10, Kettering, Northamptonshire. Geophysical Survey Report (Report). SNN110466.

<7> Bush, L., 2016, Cranford Business Park, Kettering, February 2016 (Report). SNN110465.

<8> Gilmour, N., 2018, Cranford Business Park, Kettering: Post-excavation assessment and updated project design, August 2017 (Report). SNN111201.

<9> Horne, B (editor), 2016, South Midlands Archaeology (46), p. 46 (Journal). SNN111326.

<10> Crank, N. (Editor), 2017, South Midlands Archaeology (47), p. 45 (Journal). SNN111362.

<11> Horne B. (Editor), 2013, South Midlands Archaeology (43), p. 46 (Journal). SNN111431.

<12> Gilmour, N, 2023, Hanwood Park Plots R25 and E3 (formerly East Kettering Sustainable Urban Expansion): Post Excavation Assessment and Updated Project Design (Updated January 2023), https://doi.org/10.5284/1120629 (Report). SNN114955.

<13> Graeme Clarke, 2023, Bronze Age, Iron Age and Romano-British Archaeology at Cranford Business Park, Burton Latimer, Kettering (Article). SNN116518.

<14> Oxford Archaeology (Cambridge), 2024, Data from Archaeological Excavations at Cranford Business Park, Kettering, Northamptonshire, 2016, https://doi.org/10.5284/1124302 (Digital archive). SNN116662.

Record last edited

Jan 31 2025 3:17PM