SNN111658 - Land off Oak Lane, Crick, Northamptonshire: Archaeological Field Evaluation Report (Trial Trenching)

A planning application was submitted to Daventry Borough Council for residential development on land to north of Fallowfields and Coleman Close, Crick, Northamptonshire (DA/2013/0059). The County Archaeological Advisor (CAA) of Northamptonshire County Council identified that the site is in a potentially archaeologically sensitive area and recommended that a programme of archaeological work should be undertaken to assess its potential to contain significant archaeological remains. This is in line with the guidance contained in the National Planning Policy Framework. The requirement for a two-stage archaeological field evaluation was established in briefs issued by CAA. The results of the first stage of the evaluation, a geophysical (gradiometer) survey, indicated the possible survival of sub-surface features associated with medieval cultivation. The present document comprises a report on the second stage of the evaluation, namely a programme of archaeological trial trenching. The work has been undertaken to a scheme of works approved by the CAA. The trial trenching identified a posthole that contained early Iron Age pottery and two ditches dated to the late Saxon period. These features were located with two trenches towards the western edge of the proposed development area, closest to the historic core of the village. Evidence for a braided medieval hollow way, which is likely to have been a continuation of Oak Lane, was also recorded. All three fields that constitute the proposed development area contained traces of ridge and furrow cultivation.