SNN115373 - Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment: Land off Towcester Road, Whittlebury, Northamptonshire

This archaeological desk-based assessment has been prepared by RPS for Cerda Planning Ltd. It considers c.1.9ha of land, proposed for residential development located west of Towcester Road in Whittlebury, Northampton (centred at NGR SP 6917 4437). The assessment provides a description of archaeological assets potentially affected by the proposed development of the site. It assesses their significance and addresses the information requirements of Government’s National Planning Policy Framework in relation to archaeology and Policy BN5 in the West Northamptonshire Joint Core Strategy Local Plan. Data available from Historic England and the Local Planning Authority shows that there are no Scheduled Monuments within the proposed development site. There are no Scheduled Monuments assessed as sensitive to the proposed development outside the site. Built Heritage impacts will be assessed within a separate report (RPS 2022 ref: JAC28493.2). The LiDAR data records the presence of Medieval earthwork ridge and furrow in a roughly east-west orientation. These were confirmed as low and degraded earthworks during the site visit (Plates 1-3) and are also recorded within the geophysical survey data and Google Earth imagery. Together with remains to the immediate west and north-west, they survive as an island of fragmented ridge and furrow only and do not represent a wider fossilised Medieval landscape. They are not included on the HER. There are currently no other non-designated heritage assets recorded within the site, but the study site lies just outside a small Iron Age hillfort, later reused as a Saxon burh located adjacent to the site’s southern boundary. Geophysical survey was carried out across the site and recorded no anomalies of definite archaeological origins. However, there are a small number of anomalies of unknown origin and given the proximity to the Iron Age hillfort and Saxon burh, they may represent associated activity, such as enclosure ditches and potentially sunken featured buildings. The potential for the presence of significant (i.e. non-agricultural) archaeological assets of all periods is considered to be low/negligible. There is no suggestion that the site will contain any areas of archaeological remains that would constrain the design of new development. However, given the close proximity to the Iron Age hillfort and the Saxon burh further archaeological work may be required to verify the results of the geophysical survey.