SNN115698 - Digital Archive from an Archaeological Excavation and Watching Brief at M1 Dway Junction 16, Weedon Road, Harpole, West Northamptonshire 2017-2018

This digital archive contains images, reports, site records, spreadsheets, CAD and database data from an archaeological excavation and watching brief, undertaken by Oxford Archaeology at the site of a mixed residential and commercial development at along the M1 Dway Junction 16, Weedon Road, Harpole, West Northamptonshire. The location was of particular significance for its proximity to a Roman villa that lies immediately adjacent to the north.The archaeological mitigation strategy comprised five excavation areas where buried features identified by a geophysical survey and trial-trench evaluation would be impacted by intrusive groundworks associated with the development. During the excavation it became apparent that archaeological features were being exposed by stripping within the preservation area between Areas 3 and 4, and consequently a watching brief was undertaken in this area. Open area excavation was undertaken to investigate those areas of archaeology identified during the evaluation which were considered to be at risk from the development. Excavations at Panattoni Park, at Harpole within the Nene Valley west of Northampton, uncovered part of a Roman villa and evidence for preceding prehistoric and early Roman settlement. The earliest evidence was a Mesolithic flint-knapping site. During the early Iron Age or at the start of the middle Iron Age, a pit alignment was constructed running down the valley side. A middle Iron Age settlement of at least seven roundhouses lay 450m to the east of the pit alignment. It is likely that both the boundary and the settlement were associated with cattle grazing on the valley floor, and the settlement may have been seasonally occupied. An enclosure complex was constructed against the pit alignment during the late Iron Age and occupied until c AD 50/70, after which there was an apparent hiatus of about a century before the establishment of the villa during the mid-2nd century. The villa was first discovered in the 1840s when a mosaic was accidentally uncovered. It was believed to have been largely destroyed during widening of the adjacent A4500 road in 1966 when excavation of only a small area was possible. However, the new excavation has demonstrated the survival of part of the main villa complex, including a substantial aisled building that may have formed the southern range. An extensive part of the agricultural landscape surrounding the villa was investigated, including an area devoted to malting and an enclosure complex used as a stockyard for processing livestock. A further notable find was a small hoard of mower's tools, perhaps the toolkit of an individual agricultural worker. A building interpreted as a temple-mausoleum of Romano-Celtic form situated beside a spring channel was also investigated. Pollen from the channel indicating the presence of a walnut grove may be the earliest definite evidence for the cultivation of walnut trees in Britain