SNN111642 - Land adjacent to 31 Hardwick Road, Little Harrowden, Northamptonshire: Archaeological Strip, Map and Sample

An archaeological excavation was undertaken by Cotswold Archaeology in April 2019, on land adjacent to 31 Hardwick Road, Little Harrowden, Northamptonshire. The excavation area was located in the south-eastern part of the development, targeting a north-west/south-east orientated ditch identified during previous evaluation of the site. Archaeological interest in the site is derived from its location within an area of extensive cropmarks identified through aerial photography. The Northamptonshire Historic Environment Record records numerous prehistoric, Roman, medieval and modern sites within the immediate vicinity of the site. A previous evaluation of the site, carried out by Cotswold Archaeology (2018), identified two broadly north/south orientated ditches. Worked flint and several pieces of animal bone were recovered from the fill of the southernmost ditch. The excavation, which covered an area of approximately 0.03ha, identified a single ditch containing pottery of post-medieval date. The ditch fits within a landscape of long straight post-medieval field boundaries imposed upon an earlier medieval field system. It corresponds with the general alignment of these surrounding field systems as depicted on historic and current Ordnance Survey mapping, which predominantly relate to Parliamentary Enclosure. As such it is considered likely that the ditch formed a part of this post-medieval to modern field system. No feature corresponding with the ditch recorded during the previous evaluation were identified during the excavation.