SNN112762 - Excavation and watching brief within the Outer Bailey of Northampton Castle 2013-2015

Between March and June 2013 the forecourt of Northampton Station was subject to open area excavation in advance of construction of a new station building. This work was followed by a watching brief during the digging out of the buried foundations of the adjacent Victorian station. In 2015 there was an intermittent watching brief during the demolition of the 1960s station building. The primary fill of a well has been radiocarbon dated to the later 10th century, suggesting the presence of nearby occupation at this time. A system of late Saxon curvilinear boundary ditches that ended in a seasonally moist sunken area, towards the late Saxon river edge, are dated to the 11th century, as are several pits. By the later 11th century there was a new rectilinear ditch system, perhaps marking a change in land holding following the Norman Conquest. The pre-castle features and the contemporary extensive buried soil produced quantities of animal bone, indicating that for much of this period the area had been a dumping ground for butchery and craft waste. The site produced no evidence for pre-Conquest town defences, which may suggest that the river itself had provided sufficient defence in this area. Clearance to enable construction of the Outer Bailey of Northampton Castle probably occurred in the 1120s during the reign of Henry I. A watching brief adjacent to the excavated area located the mortared ironstone foundations of a revetment wall along the front of the Outer Bailey bank, which was 7.5 wide. There was also a probable postern gate providing direct access between the Outer Bailey and the west bridge river crossing. A small building within the Outer Bailey with unmortared stone walls was 11.0m long by 5.6m wide, with a wide doorway and a succession of four large hearths. The deeply founded west wall abutted the inner face of the bailey bank. The associated pottery largely comprises utilitarian cooking pots. Remnants of other walls were probably parts of another building, with small areas of scorched soils suggesting a connection with cooking, and perhaps brewing. These buildings had a short lifetime, as they had been levelled by the end of the 12th century. Thereafter, there was no further building within this part of the Outer Bailey.