SNN112791 - Archaeological test pit investigation at St Mary's Court and Berkeley House, Northampton, February 2020

MOLA carried out a test pit investigation at St Mary’s Court, Northampton. Six test pits were excavated in green areas surrounding residential flats due to be demolished. The work took place in the centre of Northampton within the bounds of the late Saxon burh and within an area of known medieval remains identified by other archaeological works in the surrounding area. There were deeply stratified deposits in all of the test pits, mostly consisting of layers. Due to the depth of these deposits the natural substrate was not encountered in any of the test pits, which lay beyond the limits of safe working practise. The earliest recorded remains within the test pits comprised soil layers, which varied in date from the medieval through to the 19th century. Sealing or cutting those deposits there were structural remains dating from the early–middle 18th century with 19th and 20th-century remains in four test pits. A typical urban finds assemblage was recovered consisting of pottery, glass, animal bone, clay tobacco-pipes and ceramic building materials. In addition, there are 44 registered finds that primarily comprised post-medieval dress accessories recovered from a fireplace.