Monument record 2148 - Iron Age to Early Middle Saxon Settlement & Associated Field Systems, South of Earls Barton

In this area there are cropmarks of a complex of three ditched enclosures, two with buildings of Iron Age/Romano British date. Excavations on this site uncovered a late Iron Age enclosure. There are also cropmarks of ring ditches and pit alignments in the vicinity.

{3} Finds from excavation at Clay Lane 1980 included Iron Age Pottery, Romano-British pottery including samian, and 14 fragments of Romano-British glass.

{6} Gravel extraction for the A45 revealed extensive settlement, including a pre-Belgic enclosure and a Romano British farmstead.

{7} At present it is not possible to advance definitive statements on the development of the settlement as a whole. However, a number of general points may be noted. The cropmark took the form of a parallel-ditched feature and pit alignment with appended enclosures. The extent of the cropmarks suggests a settlement of considerable size, but the excavated evidence has indicated that only relatively small areas, possibly only two enclosures, were occupied at any one time. The spread of the cropmark was due to settlement drift throughout the period of occupation. The site was occupied possibly from the middle Iron Age but certainly from the beginning of the late pre-Belgic period to the 3rd century and possibly into the 4th century AD. Enclosure 1 was laid out with respect to earlier boundaries and this appears to have influenced the drift of the settlement. The Roman occupation continued the southward drift towards the river which was already apparent in the Iron Age but the focus of occupation was more clearly divorced from earlier occupation than had previously been the case. Indeed, the introduction of a Romanised style of building and the rectilinear pattern of field boundaries seems to have marked the greatest change in layout of the settlement.
{3} Finds from excavation at Clay Lane 1980 included Iron Age Pottery, Romano-British pottery including samian, and 14 fragments of Romano-British glass.

{9} Geophysical and fieldwalking surveys were undertaken as part of a planning application for a quarry. In Field 1, the geophysical survey confirmed the presence of a number of archaeological features already identified as cropmarks, including a sub-rectangular enclosure and two possibly adjacent pit alignments.

{10} The trial trench excavation identified the pit alignment and the enclosure which probably represented part of a wider field system rather than domestic settlement.

{12} Geophysical survey in 2010, a number of strong, well-defined archaeological type responses were recorded in the northern third of Area 1. A few of the anomalies have been previously identified from a combination of cropmarks, geophysical survey and trial trenching, in 2003 and 2006. The survey found that for one of the anomalies that was previously identified as a pit alignment alongside a linear has been preferably identified as ditch truncated/damaged by later ploughing. Another anomaly that has been previously detected by cropmarks has the response form is atypical for a ditch but could also be a non-magnetic feature such as a stone or plastic drain or a localised natural variation. A complex of anomalies at the eastern edge of the area and are most likely associated with the Iron Age/RB site.

<1> Brown A.E. (Editor), 1979, Archaeology in Northamptonshire 1978, p.102 (unchecked) (Article). SNN45225.

<2> NORTHAMPTONSHIRE LOCAL HISTORY NEWS OLD FORMAT, (unchecked) (Journal). SNN76498.

<3> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1982, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.197/Site 7 (unchecked) (Series). SNN77382.

<5> Brown A.E. (ed.), 1980, Archaeology in Northamptonshire 1979, p.165 (unchecked) (Article). SNN56490.

<6> Brown A.E. (ed.), 1981, Archaeology in Northamptonshire 1980, p.200 Earls Barton (part checked) (Article). SNN100418.

<7> Windell D., 1983, Clay Lane 1980: Interim Report - An Iron Age and Roman Rural Settlement at Clay Lane, Earls Barton, p.39 (checked) (Article). SNN40207.

<8> Rees G., 2008, Enclosure Boundaries and Settlement Individuality in The Iron Age, (unchecked0 (Article). SNN106040.

<9> Masters P., 2003, Earls Barton Quarry Western Extension, Northamptonshire Geophysical and Fieldwalking Surveys, (checked) (Report). SNN102439.

<10> Walsh T.; Maull A., 2003, An Archaeological Trial Excavation at Earls Barton Quarry (Western Extension), p.8 (checked) (Report). SNN103300.

<11> Walford, J, 2018, Archaeological geophysical survey at Earls Barton Spinney Quarry, Earls Barton Northamptonshire February 2018 (Report). SNN112765.

<12> Tanner, J & Stephens, C, 2010, Geophysical survey report: Earls Barton Spinney Quarry, Northamptonshire (Report). SNN115228.

Record last edited

Jun 4 2025 9:36AM