SNN111875 - Apex Site, Land off Northampton Road and Turweston Road, Brackley, Northamptonshire: Archaeological strip, map and sample investigation and archaeological observation

South Northamptonshire Council granted planning permission (S/2017/2715/MAF) for the erection of a pub restaurant (use class A3/A4) incorporating manager’s flat, 46-bed lodge (use class C1) with associated access, parking and landscaping at the Apex Site, Land off Northampton Road and Turweston Road, Brackley, NN13 5SZ. The site is located within the larger area of the Network 401 – A43 Brackley East development (S/2014/2186/COND). As the permitted development area (PDA) lies in an archaeologically sensitive area, condition no. 26 was attached to consent S/2017/2715/MAF, requiring that the development should be implemented in accordance with the approved written scheme of investigation (Albion Archaeology 2014a) agreed for the earlier Network 401 development (S/2014/2186/COND). Albion Archaeology was commissioned to carry out the archaeological strip, map and sample investigation and archaeological observation. A method statement was produced (Albion Archaeology 2018) and approved by the AAA. This report represents the results of the investigations The PDA lies on the periphery of a known focus of Iron Age settlement (Albion Archaeology 2016) and the results of the archaeological investigations have providedfurther evidence for the extent and nature of that settlement. Four ditches, nineteen quarry pits and two post-holes were recorded, within a small cluster of activity in the northern part of the PDA. These are likely to be contemporary with the middle Iron Age settlement revealed in excavations to the SW at Northampton Road (Albion Archaeology 2016). Whilst the remains have only limited potential for study in isolation, they have added to our understanding of the Iron Age landscape in the vicinity, and in particular the known extents of the middle Iron Age settlement at Northampton Road. No further analysis of the results of the investigations is required beyond that presented in this report, which will be uploaded onto the OASIS website (ref: albionar1-329976). A short summary will be submitted to South Midlands Archaeology. The archive of materials (subject to the landowner’s permission) and records will be prepared for deposition at the Northamptonshire Archaeological Resource Centre (NARC) (Event no. ENN109230).