SNN111736 - Land at Mickle Well Park, Daventry, Northamptonshire: Archaeological Evaluation

An archaeological evaluation was undertaken by Cotswold Archaeology between January and February 2019 of land at Mickle Well Park, Daventry, Northamptonshire. The fieldwork comprised the excavation of one hundred and twenty trenches. Archaeological interest in the site is derived from its location within an area containing known archaeological remains. Previous geophysical survey of the site identified anomalies interpreted as rectilinear enclosures, most likely indicative of Romano-British settlement. Subsequent targeted archaeological evaluation confirmed the presence of archaeological remains in the form of rectilinear enclosures, concentrated in the north-eastern part of the site. The current evaluation further recorded the remains of a settlement which forms the periphery of the previously identified Late Iron Age and Roman settlement, which was investigated in December 2013. In the current site, the remains consisted of a series of ditches and pits. The settlement lies on a south facing slope at between 125m and 135m above Ordnance Datum within the eastern part of the site. The evaluation and geophysical survey results suggest that north-eastern part of the site was the main focus of settlement with parts of the remainder of the site utilised for agriculture. Medieval plough furrows, the remains of the open field system that once surrounded the village of Welton/Daventry, were encountered across the entire site; variations in their alignment indicates that the site covers parts of three or more former open fields. The evaluation identified ditches and agricultural features within the remainder of the site from which a small amount of material dateable to the post-medieval and modern periods was recovered. The majority of these ditches are recorded on historic mapping. The remaining field boundary ditches, furrows and land drains fit within the general alignment of the surrounding field systems depicted on historic and current Ordnance Survey mapping. Five large pits unevenly distributed across the western and central parts of the site remained undated, although they are likely to relate to post-medieval to modern quarrying. The flanking ditches of two possible trackways were identified within the eastern part of the site, but remained undated. Further pits and ditches, predominantly concentrated in the eastern part of the site, could not be attributed to either the identified Iron Age, Roman or medieval to modern activity.