SNN113751 - Archaeological Excavations at Hardingstone, Northamptonshire: Post-Excavation Assessment and Updated Project Design for Analysis and Publication

In October 2018, Archaeological Research Services Ltd was commissioned by Kier Living to undertake an archaeological open area excavation and archaeological Strip, Map and Sample excavation on land to the north of Newport Pagnell Road, Northamptonshire. The site lies on the ridgetop of a low hill which drops away sharply to the north-east towards the current Brackmills Industrial Estate. Multiple previous phases of work have been undertaken since 1996 and these are summarised below. Indications of prehistoric and Anglo-Saxon remains had been indicated within the development area prior to the commencement of this project. Work on site by Archaeological Research Services Ltd. began with a phased strip, breaking the site into numerous areas (A, B, C, D, E, F, G and H) which were then broken into smaller sub areas (e.g. D.1-4) which have since been agglomerated for the purpose of this report. The excavations discussed here covered large areas of land to the north-west and southeast of the current Brackmills Industrial Estate access road. Excavation identified remains associated with Anglo-Saxon enclosures, two burials and two Late Neolithic-Early Bronze Age ring ditches. Archaeological features suffered extensive horizontal truncation from medieval and later ploughing and some deeper truncation by post-medieval ironstone extraction.