SNN116946 - Archaeological Investigation at Little Houghton House, 53 Bedford Road, Little Houghton, Northamptonshire NN7 1AB

In March 2023 an archaeological investigation (monitoring and recording) was carried out by Souterrain in the grounds of Little Houghton House, Northamptonshire, during excavation groundwork for a new swimming pool (c. 49 sq .m). Little Houghton House is a Georgian country mansion, which is understood to have been erected in the early 1820s. Recent study has shown that the building envelops much of a late 18th century manor houseof the same name. In the late 20th century, a historic landscape study of Little Houghton parish argued that the grounds of the mansion overlie parts of the medieval village, the latter which suffered contraction in the 14th to 15th centuries. The objectives of the investigation were thus primarily twofold: to identify and record remains of former configurations and features of the mansion house grounds, and also any evidence of former medieval tenements.The results shed new light on the architectural characteristics of a substantial late 19th century glasshouse, possibly an orangery, which was demolished at some time after the mid-20th century. The structural remains reveal that its front elevation was erected on brick piers, and that the site was quarried for building stone prior to its construction There was no evidence pertaining to the medieval village.