SNN112279 - An Archaeological Observation, Investigation, Recording, Analysis and Publication (OIRAP) at Great Oakley Hall, Church Drive, Great Oakley, Northamptonshire, NN18 8HN

This document is a fieldwork report for an archaeological observation, investigation, recording, analysis and publication (OIRAP), carried out by University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS) at Great Oakley Hall, Church Drive, Great Oakley, Northamptonshire, NN18 8HN, (NGR: SP 487144 285968) in advance of the construction of a swimming pool and associated groundworks. The development site consisted of an area of a walled garden/orchard to the north of Great Oakley Hall, adjacent to and immediately north of the ‘Garden Room’ which was the subject of a Level 2 Building Survey in March 2019. Great Oakley Hall is a Grade 11* listed 16th-century house and the Garden Room, an 18th-century gazebo and 19th-century former laundry building, also listed, is adjacent to it to the north. The site was initially stripped of turf and top soil, then the footings for the pool were dug, and finally the centre of the pool was excavated. A concrete path in poor repair was uncovered, possibly sitting over an earlier path, and three shallow 19th-century linear features, likely hedges or fences once subdividing the orchard/walled gardens. No earlier features were found once ground levels were down to the natural substructure. The subsoil and 19th-century features produced animal bone, 19th-century pottery and three fragments of pipe. The archive for the site will be deposited with Northamptonshire Museums with Event number ENN109403.