SNN110814 - Archaeological excavations at Darsdale Farm, Raunds, Northamptonshire, 2015

MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology) was commissioned by CgMs Consulting, on behalf of Taylor Wimpey East Midlands, to carry out archaeological mitigation work on land at Darsdale Farm, Raunds, prior to the proposed development of the site. Five areas totalling 3ha were excavated. A late Iron Age to early Roman rectilinear enclosure, boundary ditch and field system lay in the westernmost area. Pottery and animal bone suggest that the settlement was probably of average status. Evidence for craft includes triangular loomweights from a hearth. The remains of a timber hall and other probable middle Saxon timber structures were located at the north-eastern part of the development area. Two radiocarbon dates from postholes within the hall and another structure produced middle Saxon dates (mid to late 7th to 8th centuries AD). The settlement was abandoned before the late Saxon period. It may have shifted c100m to the north-east, where remains were examined in the Raunds Area Survey (Parry 2006). It is likely that this settlement was the precursor of the present Thorpe End.