SNN105363 - An Archaeological Excavation and Watching Brief at 98 West Street, Oundle, Northamptonshire

Following consultation with Northamptonshire County Council, planning permission has been granted for development on land at 98, West Street, Oundle (Ref EN?4/1379/FUL, NGR: TL 0375 8805, see Fig.1). The development involved the conversion of an existing barn and the construction of an extension to this building together with some landscaping, the cutting of service trenches and the construction of a garage. Since the impact of the development could not be precisely determines on the basis of the currently available information, the developers commissioned an archaeological watching brief, in accordance with the brief issued by the NCC Historic Environment Team. Oundle is a large and well documented Saxon, medieval/post-medieval settlement. West Street seems to have formed part of the early development of the town, linking the church and the market with a crossing point of the River Nene. It was thought possible that 98 West Street could reveal evidence of early habitation or boundary division within the historic settlement core of Oundle. The objectives of the watching brief were to identify any evidence for the survival of archaeological features which may be threatened by development to this site. The watching at the site took place over a period between 4th May to 26th September 2005. Observations were made of topsoil removal from within the existing barn and clearance of topsoil from the site of the extension. It was during this latter process that a single archaeological feature was observed. Subsequent to the excavation the watching brief continued to be maintained and the excavation of trenches for services and drains revealed a series of yard surfaces. These were associated with post medieval building material and probably relate to the period, from at least 1886 when the site formed the rear area of a public house. No archaeological remains were discovered in the foundation trenches for the garage on the western side of the development. A sub-rectangular feature was uncovered while topsoil stripping for the modern barn extension took place, complete sections of this feature revealed pitched stones were placed within the fill of the feature rather than the natural bedrock. This implies that if their function was to support a suspended floor, they had been added to the feature a later period. The feature was half sectioned by hand, no evidence of post holes were revealed and the remaining part was removed by machine. The pottery from the site suggests that there was continuous activity at the site from the 10th to the later 13th centuries, but all pottery dating to before the 13th century is residential.