SNN115364 - Archaeological excavation on land at Brackmills Point- Decathlon, Brackmills, Northampton, Northamptonshire, January-September 2017

MOLA Northampton was commissioned by RPS Group PLC to undertake archaeological topographic survey and excavation on land south of Bedford Road at Brackmills Industrial Estate, Northampton. A large and complex series of archaeological features indicative of a multi-period settlement site mostly spanning the late middle Iron Age to late Roman periods was present on the site. The site had been first identified during geophysical survey and trial trench evaluation. A series of enclosures and boundary ditches were present on site as well as pit groups, timber and stone-built roundhouses, substantial rectangular stone-built structures, burials, kilns and a drying oven. A large artefactual assemblage was recovered, which comprised pottery, animal bone, environmental remains, ceramic and stone building material as well as coins and other metal artefacts. The site shows some evidence of earlier prehistoric activity in the form of a linear pit alignment, and early medieval activity as represented by a single sunken featured building though settlement appears to have largely ceased by the end of the 4th century AD.