SNN113102 - Archaeological excavation on land at Brackmills Point – Decathlon, Brackmills, Northampton, Northamptonshire, January to September 2017: Assessment report and updated project design

MOLA Northampton was commissioned by CgMS Heritage to undertake archaeological topographic survey and excavation on land south of Bedford Road at Brackmills Industrial Estate, Northampton Northamptonshire. A large and complex series of archaeological features indicative of a multi-period settlement site spanning the late Iron Age to late Roman periods was present on the site. The site had been first identified during geophysical survey and trial trench evaluation. A series of enclosures and boundary ditches were present on site as well as pit groups, timber and stone built roundhouses, substantial rectangular stone-built structures, burials, kilns and a drying oven. A large artefactual assemblage was recovered, which comprised pottery, animal bone, environmental remains, ceramic and stone building material as well as coins and other metal artefacts. The site shows some evidence of earlier prehistoric activity in the form of a linear pit alignment, and early medieval activity as represented by a single sunken featured building though settlement appear to have largely ceased by the end of the 4th century AD.