SNN109084 - Archaeological Excavations at Belle Baulk, Towcester, Northamptonshire July 2013 (revision)

Two main concentrations of features were excavated by Northamptonshire Archaeology in advance of residential development in December 2011. The smaller excavation contained a large sub-rectangular pit, filled with fire-cracked river pebbles and charcoal rich silty clay, adjacent to a straight ditch with a V-shaped profile and similar fill. A small group of shallow pits, packed with fire-cracked river pebbles lay nearby. The principal pit contained antler, burnt bone, worked flint, a grinding stone and charcoal, which has been radiocarbon dated to the middle Bronze Age. The larger excavation area contained two concentric ditches of Roman date that formed three sides of a rectangular enclosure. The ditches drained down the slope towards the River Tove. Within the enclosure was a rectangular building, 20m long by 8m wide, which comprised 27 postholes; the most substantial of these were made from stone settings with a single central post-pipe. The arrangement of the postholes indicated that a lean-to portico structure had been extended on its north side and there may have been an entrance from the west. A large sub-rectangular timber and clay-lined holding tank was associated with the building and was periodically drained into the surrounding enclosure ditch. Most of the features contained silting deposits overlain by dark loamy backfill which seems to have been from a midden heap. The pottery was of mid 1st to mid 2nd century AD date, containing a greater proportion of flagons and jars than other pottery forms. The building and its tank were perhaps part of an industrial process such as brewing or fulling cloth, although it may have previously been a simple barn.