SNN111210 - Land at 17 Mill Road, Kislingbury, Northamptonshire: An archaeological excavation, 2014

During May 2014 and November 2015, Benchmark Archaeology (BA) undertook a programme of Archaeological Excavation (AE) on land at 17 Mill Road, Kislingbury, Northamptonshire, NN7 4BD (NGR: 469543 259435). The work was commissioned and funded by Leigh Woodward. Planning permission was granted by South Northamptonshire Council for residential development on the site (Planning Ref: S/2013/1174/FUL). The site lies within an area of significant archaeological potential as demonstrated by a previous Archaeological Field Evaluation (AFE) which recorded activity and features of Saxon and Medieval date on the site (Browning 2014). Based on the results of the AFE the Assistant Archaeological Advisor (AAA), Northamptonshire County Council (NCC) recommended that a programme of AE be undertaken on the site ahead of development. Following on-site discussions with the AAA, NCC, an Archaeological Watching Brief (AWB) was also maintained during the later stages of development. Prior to the fieldwork a project design (Cherrington 2014) specifying the methodology to be employed during the archaeological work as specified in the document entitled ‘Brief for a Programme of Archaeological Strip, Map and Sample Investigation and Publication On Land At 17 Mill Road, Kislingbury, Northamptonshire’, produced by the AAA, NCC. The excavation and watching brief work has succeeded in its aim of providing a written, drawn and photographic recorded of the features and deposits encountered within areas proposed for development Iron Age (-800 BC to 42A D) and Early / Middle Anglo-Saxon (410 AD – 899 AD) activity on the site or in the immediate vicinity is suggested by the recovery of sherds of residual pottery from Medieval ditches F233, 226 and F114, 113 respectively. The earliest feature recorded was Early Romano-British (43 AD to 409 AD) in date and comprised an amorphous feature (F219) in Area B (north) which has been interpreted as a probable mineral extraction pit. The feature fill (218) contained sherds of 1st Century AD pottery. The vast majority of the dateable features recorded in Areas A, B and C were Medieval (1066 AD to 1539 AD) in date, although activity appears limited to the 12th – 14th Centuries. A series of ditches / gullies (F105, F108, F114, F116, F147 and F149) aligned roughly north – south and east – west were recorded in Area A. Further ditches (F210, F212 and F215) aligned roughly east – west and northeast – southwest were encountered in Area B (north). These features have largely been interpreted as forming land boundaries and stock enclosures. Many of the postholes (F131, F133, F135, F137, F139 and F141) recorded in Area A are associated with probable enclosure feature F108. Various discrete pits and postholes were recorded including a row of three postholes (F120, F151 and F153) which suggest the former presence of a structure. A deep and broad ditch feature (F233) with several re-cuts (F223, F225 and F228) was recorded in Area B (west). Watching brief work established the continuation of this feature further to the north in Area C. The scale of this feature and the fact that it was maintained via recutting suggests an established boundary feature of some importance. The ditch may represent a boundary between the two manors of Kislingbury or perhaps defined the boundary between the eastern and western elements of the settlement. No evidence for Post-Medieval activity was recorded on site suggesting that the site was abandoned after the 14th Century. Only two c. 19th / 20th Century features (F107 and F118) were recorded. A very small assemblage of animal bone was recovered with little information gained. The environmental assemblages suggested that many of the recovered remains were intrusive within the feature fills. As coal fragments were present throughout, it is, perhaps, most likely that much of the material was derived from Post-Medieval night soil or similar refuse. Such material, which because of its nature and size, readily travels through the soil column as a result of root penetration or similar bioturbation of the deposits, and is commonly recorded within features of all dates which are situated in close proximity to urban centres. The widespread presence of this material may be associated with the sites former use as allotments. Based on the excavated evidence, paucity of finds (pottery, animal bone etc.) and environmental data, the site has been interpreted as agricultural in nature rather than an occupation site. Based on the pottery sequence and lack of any later features or finds the site appears to have been abandoned during the 14th Century before being re-occupied by at least the early 19th Century. One possible explanation for abandonment is the outbreak of the Black Death in 1358 – 1349 which is thought to have killed one-third of Kislingbury’s inhabitants.