SNN109425 - Land Off Church Road, Piddington, Northamptonshire: Archaeological Evaluation, 2013

In December 2012, an archaeological evaluation, comprising the excavation of two 30m trial trenches, was undertaken by Cotswold Archaeology on a plot of land off Church Road, Piddington. The work was carried out prior to the submission of planning proposals for the residential development of the site. In the northern part of the site, approximately 0.8m below current ground level, excavation revealed Roman and medieval features. The Roman remains comprised a substantial ditch with a small spur curving off its eastern side, cut by a broad, shallow ditch that contained sherds of Roman pottery, Roman tile and fragments of animal bone. The medieval features, a relatively large ditch and a probable ditch terminal, contained a small assemblage of medieval pottery dated to the 12th to 14th centuries, animal bone and residual Roman pottery sherds. Samples taken from the ditches contained burnt cereal grains, indicative of crop processing being carried out nearby. A fragment of a horseshoe, possibly of medieval date, and a sherd of medieval pottery were recovered from the subsoil. The ground level in the southern part of the site had previously been reduced during preliminary groundworks associated with an earlier proposed development. This had removed the topsoil, subsoil and glacial till to expose the bedrock and any archaeological remains in this area, with the exception of the bases of deep ditches and pits, would have been entirely removed. The base of a relatively large ditch, of Roman or medieval date, was encountered at the northern end of the trial trench in this area. No surviving remains of the cottages and other buildings that once occupied part of the site were enountered in the trial trenches, other than the remains of modern drains in the northwest corner.