SNN110905 - Archaeological observation and recording report: Fawsley Hall, Fawsley, 2015

In July 2015 KDK Archaeology Ltd undertook a programme of observation and recording at Fawsley Hall, Fawsley, Northamptonshire as Condition 3 of Planning Consent for the development of the site. This series of works was located between the proposed plant room in the southwest of the development site, and the Georgian plant room in the northeast, and consisted of a small area of ground reduction to the south, and an 87.3m service trench between the two buildings. The site stratigraphy supports the historical background of the site, consisting of several made ground deposits and a buried topsoil horizon. The presence of buried topsoil (006) to the west of the hall may provide further evidence of landscaping of the gardens surrounding the hall in the 18th/19th century discovered during an evaluation to the south of the hall in 1989 (HER 459/2/5). Three limestone walls, [007], [008], and [009], were uncovered within the cable trench, as well as a limestone surface [010]. All of the recorded features can be attributed to either the post-medieval or modern era, with walls [007] and [009] both marked on Ordnance Survey maps dating from these periods, forming part of a walled garden. Further investigation of the area surrounding surface [010] would need to be carried out before accurate dating could be obtained for this feature and wall [008].