SNN116611 - Rushden Living Area, Rushden Lakes, Northamptonshire: An Archaeological Excavation

Pre-Construct Archaeology was commissioned by TFT to undertake an archaeological excavation on land to the west of the Rushden Lakes Shopping complex, Northamptonshire. The investigations were required to investigate and record the archaeological remains ahead of a new retail, commercial and office units with associated access, parking, landscaping and infrastructure. Planning permission has been granted by North Northamptonshire Council. The archaeological investigations revealed that despite the known middle Iron Age settlement at the top of the hill to the west of this excavation area, the area of investigation lay was a quiet part of the landscape away from any settlement activitiesand had only been used for agricultural land management. Very little in the way of dateable artefactual material was recovered but the few finds that were revealed, along with the stratigraphy demonstrated that the field system had been in use for at least 500 years through the late Iron Age through to the later Romano-British period.Following the abandonment near the end of the Romano-British period the landscape continued to be under-utilised until the formation of ridge and furrow in the medieval or post-medieval periods and later arable farming in the 20th century up to the present day.