SNN109449 - Land East of Brackmills, Northampton: Archaeological Evaluation Report

Oxford Archaeology was commissioned to undertake an evaluation of a site known as Land East of Brackmills. The work was undertaken between 6th and 23rd January 2014. A total of 28 trenches were excavated across the site. Archaeological remains dating to the middle Iron Age, late Iron Age/early Roman and Roman periods were recorded. In addition, evidence for medieval ridge and furrow agriculture was present across the site. Evidence of settlement dating to the middle Iron Age was found in the higher, southern part of the site. A series of small sub-circular enclosures, recorded as geophysical anomalies, appear to date from this period. In addition, further pits and ditches containing Iron Age pottery, animal bone and fragments of oven or hearth furniture were present. Settlement activity appears to continue into the late Iron Age/early Roman period, again focused on the high ground overlooking the River Nene. The activity continues into the Roman period proper, with some evidence that it became more extensive in the late Roman period. A length of stone-built wall footing was present in one of the trenches and is almost certainly Roman in date. Whether this formed part of a building or some other structure was not clear. Extensive earthworks, the remains of medieval ridge and furrow agriculture, are present across the site. The presence of late medieval pottery in a layer adjacent to an existing pond on the eastern boundary of the site may suggest that the pond formed part of the medieval landscape. Possible evidence of small-scale post-medieval quarrying was present at the southern edge of the site where a layer of sandy silt containing frequent stone fragments was recorded. It is noticeable that evidence of ridge and furrow, either as earthworks or as geophysical anomalies, is absent from this area, having, perhaps, been destroyed by quarrying.