SNN114557 - Romano-British Rural Occupation in Earls Barton village, Northamptonshire: Archaeological Investigation 2022

In June 2022 archaeological excavations were carried out by Souterrain at two new house plots in the historic centre of Earls Barton village, Northamptonshire, where trial trenching in 2012 had revealed remains of Romano-British occupation, most likely pertaining to a farmstead. Open area excavation took place throughout the proposed footprint of one of the new houses (Area 1; c. 206.54 sq. m), revealing a range of features associated with Romano-British rural settlement. The pottery assemblage consists predominantly of Northamptonshire coarse wares and indicates a broad date range of mid/late 2nd century to 3rd century AD. The area of excavation was extended eastwards to gain a better understanding of a substantial NW/SE-aligned ditch which was partially investigated in 2012. Over 3 m wide and up to 0.68 m deep, the ditch cut through a Roman occupation layer. It is considered to have been a late medieval enclosure boundary which shared the alignment of cultivation strips that it once contained. A different approach was taken at the second house plot (Area 2; c.183 sq. m) where a great depth of post-medieval overburden was envisaged. Preliminary trial pits dug in the corners of the plot proved quarry backfill and a deep farmland re-instatement layer (18th / early 19th century) above geological stratum. Subsequent excavation of strip foundation trenches in Area 2 exposed a small island of Romano-British archaeology amidst the post-medieval quarry disturbance. A limited open-area excavation (c. 12 sq. m) revealed a cobbled surface which was probably in use during the mid/late 2nd century. Significantly, the discoveries represent tangible evidence of Romano-British rural habitation within the historic core of Earls Barton. It is considered that a prime determinant for settlement at this location would have undoubtedly been a nearby spring, which, although no longer extant, was until the late 19th century the village’s main source of fresh water. The site may well have been associated with an extensive contemporary landscape of Romano-British rural enclosures found recently on the northern periphery of the village. The investigation has not only resulted in a greater understanding of the nature of Romano-British rural settlement evidence in the historic core of Earls Barton, but also an improved understanding of the extents to which the village landscape was fashioned, exploited, and re-fashioned from the late medieval period through to the later post- medieval period.