SNN114363 - Nenescape, Chester House Farm, Northamptonshire: Archaeological Watching Brief

Wessex Archaeology was commissioned by Jeremy Benn Associates Ltd, on behalf of The Environment Agency, to maintain an archaeological watching brief during the excavation of a bank seat and the profiling of part of the southern bank of the River Nene for a proposed landing stage. The watching brief area lies within the Scheduled Monument of the Roman town of Irchester (NHLE1003892), and the works were undertaken following Scheduled Monument Consent (ref. S00240349). Machine excavation proceeded until a depth of 0.4-0.5 m below ground level (BGL), at which point the formation level was reached and the excavation halted. At this depth, the deposit at the base of the monitored area contained concrete and brick rubble. The bricks were of 20th-century date. The basal deposit has been interpreted as levelling material, potentially representing ad hoc flood prevention works, either imported to the site by an overland route or dredged from the adjacent riverbed. The presence of the levelling material had been noted during an earlier borehole survey, where it was encountered at 0.25–0.7 m BGL. Any underlying horizons of potential archaeological or palaeoenvironmental significance that may be present within the footprint of the monitored area were not exposed, although no such deposits had been encountered during the borehole survey of the previous year. No artefacts were retained, and due to the date and character of the deposits encountered, no environmental samples were taken. The watching brief was able to successfully meet its aims and objectives, although the results were archaeologically negative. The monitored development has not led to any adverse impact on the archaeological significance of the Scheduled Monument.