SNN110975 - Thrapston Cattle Market, Thrapston, Northamptonshire: Archaeological Evaluation, December 2011

An archaeological evaluation, comprising the excavation of thirteen trial trenches, was undertaken by Cotswold Archaeology (CA) on the proposed site for a new Sainsbury’s supermarket, at Thrapston Cattle Market, Thrapston, Northamptonshire. Roman and medieval remains were encountered close to the northern edge of the site, on the strip of land to the rear of 62 High Street. The Roman remains comprised a shallow hollow with a closely-set row of stakeholes along one edge, from which came a sherd of late 1st to 3rd-century pottery. The feature was truncated by a medieval ditch, which may delineate a plot boundary; pottery dating to the 12th to 14th centuries was recovered from its fills. A second, shallower ditch, probably also of medieval date, ran parallel and to the south of this ditch, and between the two were a pit and a possible gully terminal, from which were recovered further sherds of medieval pottery. A rimsherd of early to middle Saxon pottery was recovered from the topsoil in the garden to the rear of 28-30 High Street. Elsewhere, the deposits encountered were generally consistent with the area having once been gardens to the rear of properties fronting the High Street, or used for agricultural or horticultural purposes. Associated remains included a garden path, possible planting beds and a brick structure that may have been a ‘melon pit’. The garden deposits were buried under a layer of made-ground, which included slag imported from the Islip furnaces. The remains of a 19th-century building, thought to be a former brewery, were located adjacent to Hortons’ Lane.