SNN111298 - Test Pit Results from Wicken (formerly Wyke Hamon and Wyke Dyve), Northamptonshire, Test Pit Results from Wicken (formerly Wyke Hamon and Wyke Dyve), Northamptonshire July-August 2003 July-August 2003

During July and August 2003, 24 test pits measuring 1 x 1m and excavated to natural were opened in and around Wicken (formerly Wyke Hamon and Wyke Dyve). Whilst this sample size remains small, the recovery of quantities of pottery dating from the Romano-British period (AD43-400) through to the present day, together with the identification of a number of historic features including walls and floor, provides the opportunity to propose a tentative reconstruction of the origins and subsequent development of the two medieval villages. A further 12 test pits were excavated at Dagnall outside the village. These results are complemented by earthwork survey and geophysical survey undertaken in the field immediately south of the church, and the results from systematic fieldwalking in the fields surrounding the village. Other areas of earthworks, notably east of Home Farm, remain to be fully investigated. It should be borne in mind, therefore, that the archaeological research remains unfinished and thus carries the potential to alter the current hypotheses should further areas be opened in the future. It is our considered opinion, however, that this work would add to the detail of the developmental story of the village, but would be unlikely to alter fundamentally the basic picture as it is presented here.