SNN111227 - The Horseshoe Inn, High Street, Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire: Archaeological investigation

In February 2018 an archaeological investigation was carried out by Souterrain during groundwork for five new dwellings at No. 67 High Street, Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire. The development plot (c. 400 sq. m) once formed part of the curtilage of The Horseshoe Inn, and was last in use as a beer garden and a car park. The former public house itself was undergoing conversion to dwellings as a part of the development project. The investigation followed on from a comprehensive Historic Building Record, in which it was deduced that the building originated in the 17th or 18th century. The building’s history was traced to the early 19th century, at which time it appears to have been a bake house and shop, before becoming a beer house. Nineteenth century maps show the site variously occupied by tenements and outbuildings. The area of investigation was thus considered to have potential for the survival of buried remains that would shed further light on the origin, development and usage of the building and the land attached to it. Additional consideration was given to the site’s location on High Street, the latter which is purported to be course of the main Roman road from Lowick to Irchester. Apart from the partial exposure of a 19th century well, there were no archaeological features or finds revealed by the groundwork. Undoubtedly, the foundations of all previous buildings at the site had been extremely shallow, or negligible. The construction of the public house car park and beer garden in the 20th century had removed all traces of earlier land-use. The areas of ground investigation were surveyed and photographed, and the height of the geological horizon recorded.