SNN101222 - Archaeological Excavations On Land Off Seaton Road, Harringworth, Northamptonshire

An archaeological excavation was undertaken by Northamptonshire Archaeology during construction of a bio-disk sewage outlet on land to the west of Seaton Rd, Harringworth between February-April 2000. A trench c.37m long and 6m wide was excavated by machine onto the top of archaeological features including inhumations and pits. Most of the features were not excavated as the development programme was changed to affect the archaeology as little as possible. The principal discovery were some 30 burials which formed part of a substantial cemetery probably of Christian rite. Its southern extent was exposed in 1967 adjacent to the present development, but was not documented. The burials in the excavation were exposed over a distance of at least 18m and were laid out in at least three rows, 0.7m apart. A test pit measuring 3m by 3m was excavated within the cemetery and revealed two layers of three burials. A possible mortuary structure was suggested by three postholes adjacent to one of the interments. The burials were orientated with the head to the west and none had grave goods. Carbon dating of two burial one from either layer dated the lower internment at 365 to 640 AD to 2σ (95% probability) and the other one to 445 to 655AD to 2σ. However a single sherd of 10th century pottery was found adjacent to one of the unexpected burials. The relationship between the cemetery and any predecessor of the nearby former chapel of All Saints is uncertain. However, clearly by the early medieval period the cemetery had fallen into disuse as the southern burials were cut by pits dated by a few pottery sherds to 1150-1225. To the east of the burials were features that were dated to between the late Saxon and late medieval period. The late Saxon period was represented by at least two pits, one of which contained an almost complete early Stamford ware pottery jar. Parts of at least two possible buildings were found including postholes and a floor. Evidence suggests iron working took place on part of the former burial ground as four pits within five metres of each other contained significant amounts of smithing and smelting slag. Other pits were found throughout the trench dating from the early medieval period to a possible late medieval/early post-medieval quarry pit. The lack of post 16th century features seem to indicate the site was disused in the post-medieval period. The earliest map evidence of the village (1619) shows the development area was in fields and later maps demonstrated that this land use continues into modern times.