SNN110953 - Archaeological excavation on land off High Street and Cottesbrooke Road, Naseby, Northamptonshire

This report presents the results of an archaeological excavation undertaken in advance of residential development on land off High Street and Cottesbrooke Road, Naseby, Northamptonshire. The project was commissioned by Francis Jackson Homes Limited in response to a condition of planning permission imposed by Daventry District Council. Naseby is located in the county of Northamptonshire, approximately 20km north of Northampton and a similar distance west of Kettering. Occupying an area of approximately 2.0 hectares, the development area is located at the southern edge of Naseby village, at the junction of High Street and Cottesbrooke Road and centred on National Grid Reference SP 6893 7760. The area of excavation comprised an area of approximately 0.3 hectares. A geophysical survey undertaken by Archaeological Project Services during 2013 identified a number of linear anomalies which were not aligned with the upstanding ridge and furrow earthworks within the proposed development area. A subsequent programme of archaeological trial trenching in 2014, also undertaken by Archaeological Project Services, identified a number of the anomalies as buried ditches and confirmed that they did pre-date the ridge and furrow field system. However, no dating evidence was recovered. An archaeological topographical survey of the upstanding earthworks within the proposed area of development was undertaken by Witham Archaeology in 2016 and recorded two groups of parallel ridges which represented the remains of medieval ridge and furrow agriculture. The current investigations identified a ring ditch, a small rectangular enclosure and an arrangement of ditches which represent the remains of a small Iron Age farmstead and associated fields. A number of pits and post holes were recorded, including a small pit containing the remains of a human cremation and associated late Iron Age pottery.