SNN101151 - An Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment And Trial Excavation On Former Allotments Site, Lime Street,

Archaeological Evaluation involving a desk-based assessment and trial excavation was undertaken on land off Lime Street, Irthingborough. Trial excavation identified four phases of stratified archaeological features, concentrated in the eastern two-thirds of the site. An initial phase represented by the truncated remains of pits, ditches, gullies and a post-hole cut into the natural subsoil was dated to the 9th-11th centuries AD. Most of these features were overlain by a garden/cultivation soil dated to the 13th century. In the third phase of activity, two successive stone structures were built in the eastern part of the site, adjacent to Lime Street. The earlier structure comprised a single limestone wall; this was removed prior to construction of a second building slightly to the south. Six courses of the northern wall of this structure survived and was abutted by a clay floor. The southern wall of this structure had been removed. Remains of a circular stone dovecote, uncovered in the central part of the site may have been contemporary with this phase. The stone walls of these structures were subsequently selectively removed and a series of stone spreads (presumably incorporating rubble from the abandoned buildings) were incorporated into extensive 18th century landscaping and terracing.