SNN112235 - Northampton North-west Relief Road: Archaeological Evaluation Report

Oxford Archaeology was commissioned by WSP to undertake a trial trench evaluation along the proposed route of the north‐west relief road on the outskirts of Northampton. The work was undertaken to inform the planning authority in advance of the submission of a planning application. The evaluation fieldwork was completed between May and July 2019 and comprised 123 trenches ranging from 30m by 1.60m to 50m by 2.20m. The evaluation revealed four distinct areas of significant archaeological remains. These comprised: early prehistoric activity located at the edge of the floodplain in Trenches 36‐41; middle‐late Iron Age settlement focused around, but not limited to, Trenches 70‐73; Roman activity peripheral to a settlement in Trench 96 and late Roman activity, including evidence for crop processing and structures, in Trenches 112‐114 and 116. In addition, isolated features were encountered elsewhere within the evaluation, although these were invariably historic or failed to produce any artefactual evidence. Excavation across the floodplain also revealed significant depths of alluvial deposits and sediments relating to former watercourses. Well‐preserved waterlogged remains were recovered from the palaeochannel deposits indicating a slow‐moving watercourse or possibly areas of standing water.