SNN110603 - Handley Park, near Abthorpe, Northamptonshire: Archaeological evaluation

In May 2014, Cotswold Archaeology carried out an archaeological evaluation, comprising the excavation of thirty-three trenches, at Handley Park, near Abthorpe, Northamptonshire. The evaluation was commissioned by Pegasus Planning Group, acting on behalf of Haymaker Energy Ltd, and was carried out prior to the submission of a planning application for the construction of a solar park on the site. Evidence for Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age activity, comprising a pit and a ditch from which a small assemblage of pottery was recovered, was encountered on the south-east facing slope overlooking the valley of Silverstone Brook. In the same area the remains of a small Roman settlement, probably a farmstead and associated field system, were identified. The Roman features contained pottery, animal bone and fragments of Roman roof tile, the latter indicating that there may have been a building in the vicinity. The Middle/Late Saxon remains comprised a circular or oval enclosure, although no evidence was encountered for features within the enclosure. Pottery dateable to the 7th to 10th centuries, a fragment of an iron pin or bobbin and a metal fragment, possibly part of a bucket with mineralised wood fibres adhering to its surface, were recovered from the enclosure ditch. The archaeological features broadly corresponded with anomalies detected by a geophysical survey of the site, although in a number of instances there was only an approximate correlation with the geophysical survey results, possibly due to the highly variable geology. Many of the anomalies interpreted as being of possible archaeological significance were confirmed as geological in origin and several features were identified that were not detected by the geophysical survey.