SNN110196 - An archaeological field evaluation by trial trenching of land north of Station Road, Irchester, Northamptonshire

An archaeological field evaluation by trial trenching was carried out on land north of Station Road, Irchester, Northamptonshire (SP 92923 65819) by University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS) between 6-15 August, 2014. Work was undertaken for Acreage Strategic Land in order to establish the nature, extent, date and significance of any archaeological deposits which may be present, in order that an assessment may be made of the impact of any proposed development on the buried remains. Twenty-five 30m x 1.8m trenches were excavated across three fields. Overall, the results of the evaluation were mixed. Archaeology was found in five trenches, four in the southern half of Field 1 and one in the southern half of Field 2. This was typically medieval in character, comprising pits, post-holes, ditches and the stone footings of a building situated close to the frontage with Station Road. Iron slag recovered from features adjacent to the building may suggest that it had associations with metalworking/processing. Overall, a few sherds of St Neots and Stamford wares hint at a Late Saxon or Saxo Norman presence in the area but the pottery assemblage as a whole suggests activity across the site was broadly contemporary, with a terminus post quem sometime in the early 14th century. In Field 2 a possible disturbed grave was identified. Twenty other trenches proved negative of archaeological deposits. These were situated across the northern half of Field 1 and Field 2 and across Field 3 in its entirety. The full archive will be retained by ULAS under the accession number NH-SRI2014.