SNN110524 - Archaeological investigation and excavation at Cow Lane, Northampton, November 2014

Archaeological features and deposits were excavated in 2014 at a former car park on Cow Lane, now known as Swan Street, Northampton. Prior to the Norman Conquest the area was mostly open land, perhaps with some low level agricultural activity outside the Saxon burh. In the late 12th century an ironstone quarry was established to supply stone to the Norman New Borough. By the 13th century Cow Lane (Swan Street) had been laid out, the quarry pits were being backfilled and the land terraced for occupation. From the late 13th century, an ironstone wall served as a property boundary and revetment for the terrace. This boundary wall was retained through later periods up to the present development. In the 15th century, on the upslope side of the wall a number of dwellings were erected with gardens and stone-lined cesspits to the rear, and probably with stables and orchards beyond. In the 16th century, the buildings had been demolished, the stonework robbed, and existing pits backfilled to level the land for horticultural use. The 17th and 18th centuries saw renewed activity, and the site again became used as backyards, with drains, stone-lined cesspits, and post-built structures. In 1830 the Lion Foundry ironworks was constructed to the north of the revetment wall. Several circular pits, possibly wells, were backfilled with large quantities of iron and copper slag waste, as well as domestic pottery. The foundry was demolished in the 1960s and replaced by a car park. Below the revetment was a row of three-storey terraced brick houses forming St John’s Terrace, built in the mid-19th century. The terrace had two public houses at its eastern end, which were demolished in the late 20th century.