SNN104747 - Archaeological Evaluation: The Old Shoe Factory, Gordon Street, Rothwell, Northamptonshire

During April 2004 a pre-determination archaeological evaluation, comprising desk-based study, trial trenching and historic building assessment, was carried out on the former Gordon shoe factory site at Gordon Street Kettering. The site was located adjacent to a medieval/ post medieval manorial complex. The desk-based assessment revealed that there were no known archaeological deposits at the study site. Trenching revealed archaeological deposits and features of an late Saxon/early medieval date, in the form of four truncated postholes and a probable southeast-northwest orientated ditch. The finds assemblage, including pottery, animal bone and struck flint, reflects settlement activity at the site. A tile stack and Victorian floor showed likely industrial activity at the site during this period, possibly related to the factory. No deposits were revealed to suggest that the adjacent medieval/post medieval manorial complexes extend onto the site, although the large homogenous clay deposit could represent dumped clay from the manorial fishpond construction/maintenance works. The building assessment showed that the core of the factory, built in the late 1880’s, survived relatively unaltered, though most of the machinery and fittings related to its operation had been removed or displaced. Later additions to the complex, made in the 1930s and 1960, were felt to be of little architectural or historical significance.