SNN111045 - Archaeological investigations at Brackley Road, Towcester, Northamptonshire

An archaeological investigation, comprising a strip, map and recording exercise, was undertaken on land adjacent to Brackley Road, Towcester, Northamptonshire. This was in order to record archaeological features and deposits prior to development of the area. Towcester was the site of a small Roman (AD 43-410) town which grew up alongside Watling Street, a major communication route that connected London to Chester. The town was fortified in the 2nd century. An Early Saxon (AD 410-650) cemetery and possible settlement is known to the northeast of the site. In the Late Saxon period (AD 850-1066) the town was refortified on order of King Edward the Elder. During the medieval period (AD 1066-1540), the site lay in the open fields of the town and adjacent to a deer park. The evaluation identified a sequence of natural, medieval and post-medieval deposits. Two pits produced medieval pottery from their upper fills and were overlain by furrows of the medieval field system. One furrow had in turn been cut by a late post-medieval ditch. Unstratified Saxon pottery was the earliest material recovered from the investigation. Locally produced medieval pottery was retrieved in greater quantities. Postmedieval glass and clay pipe were also found.