SNN112121 - Archaeological Evaluation Report: Trial Trenching: Land off Whites Lane, Harlestone, Northamptonshire

Allen Archaeology Limited was commissioned by David Wilson Homes South Midlands to undertake an archaeological evaluation by trial trenching on land off Whites Lane, Harlestone, Northamptonshire, in support of a planning application for a residential development. • The site lies in an area of archaeological potential with evidence for prehistoric activity in the surrounding area, including a pit alignment that crosses the northeast corner of the site, a number of worked flints and a possible Bronze Age barrow. A geophysical survey of the proposed development area was undertaken in 2016 and identified a number of linear anomalies likely to represent recent plough marks or possibly medieval ridge and furrow cultivation. • Four targeted trenches were excavated across the proposed development area, with three trenches measuring 40m long by 1.8m wide and one trench measuring 20m long by 3.6m wide. The trial trenching has identified features of potential archaeological interest in two of the four trenches, with Trenches 2 and 4 containing deposits of possible buried ploughsoil but no archaeological features. • Trench 1 contained two pits, [103] and [105] that form part of the northwest to southeast oriented pit alignment. Trench 3, towards the middle of the site, contained a single pit, [303], from which 11 sherds of pottery were recovered and are tentatively dated to the Iron Age period. • The few archaeological deposits encountered were generally shallow, covered by a 0.3–0.5m thick overburden. It is therefore anticipated that in the areas where archaeology occurs, that any groundworks are likely to impact upon the deposits. This is likely limited to small area at the north end of the site, and possibly a small area towards the middle of the site.