SNN114463 - Braybrooke Substation, Northamponshire: Archaeological Excavation Report

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Type Report
Title Braybrooke Substation, Northamponshire: Archaeological Excavation Report
Author/Originator
Date/Year 2019
SMR Input Date (use for label searches) 07/12/2022

Abstract/Summary

n September 2019 Oxford Archaeology (OA) was commissioned by National Grid to undertake an archaeological excavation on the site of a proposed new substation and access road within the parish of Braybrooke, Northamptonshire (NGR: SP 75835 85804). The excavation revealed a substantial ditch on a north-south alignment, and an adjacent complex of slighter boundary ditches and enclosures extending over an area of at least 275m. The dating evidence from the ditches is unfortunately very ambiguous, being limited to a few sherds of late Iron Age or early Roman pottery, and at least one sherd of Ipswich ware dated to AD 720-850. While there are stratigraphic relationships between some ditches, these do not provide a clear sequence of development of the ditch complex as a whole. It is possible that the earliest elements of the ditch complex were laid out in the late Iron Age or early Roman period, and that there was a separate subsequent phase of enclosure in the Saxon period. However, given that the late Iron Age/Roman sherds are typically small and abraded, in contrast to the larger size of the sherd of Ipswich ware, it can tentatively be suggested that the ditch complex as a whole dates to the Anglo-Saxon period or later, and that the earlier pottery is residual. The ditches are likely to have defined fields or paddocks of agricultural use, or possibly outlying plots associated with a nearby settlement. The very low quantities of artefacts and animal bone recovered, and the absence of charred plant remains other than a small amount of charcoal, imply that any settlement focus was not directly adjacent to the excavated area. Evidence for later activity was limited to a post-medieval pit, and furrows of medieval or post-medieval date.

External Links (1)

Description

Location

NCC Archives Service, Heritage Team HER Library

Referenced Monuments (1)

  • Possible late Iron Age/Roman or Anglo-Saxon field systems, north of Harborough Road (Monument)

Referenced Events (1)

  • Braybrooke substation, 2019 (Excavation) (Ref: BRUT19)

Record last edited

Sep 22 2023 1:35PM

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