SNN114842 - Land South of The Retreat, Park Lane, Sulgrave, Northamptonshire, OX17 2RX: Archaeological Evaluation

In January 2023, an archaeological evaluation trench was excavated in a redundant garden plot in the southwestern part of the village of Sulgrave, Northamptonshire. The plot adjoins The Retreat, a stone-built house which is understood to have originated in the 16th or early 17th century. The purpose of the investigation was to determine whether significant buried archaeological remains could be affected by a proposed development. The site was deemed to have potential for buried archaeology pertaining to Sulgrave’s medieval settlement. The evaluation would allow the planning authority’s archaeological advisor to decide whether a form of mitigation would be required. The trench (18 sq.m.) was positioned to provide a representative sample of the area to be affected by the proposed development. It established the former presence of a building with a floor of compacted cobbles and soils. The building is considered to have been timber-framed structure upon stone-built sill-beam/ plinth wall foundations. It was possibly an outbuilding, although its function and date of origin could not be ascertained. The pottery assemblage suggests that it was in use in the late 17th / early 18th century through to the early 19th century. There were no earlier features or deposits and no evidence for an earlier ground surface earlier than the late 17th / early 18th century. The geological strata were partly composed of limestone bedrock. It was evidently exposed prior to the erection of the building, probably as source of building material. Two worn sherds of residual medieval pottery were recovered from the floor make-up (10th - mid-12th century and c. C12/13th century).