SNN116963 - Archaeological Excavation at Norwood Relief Road and Area F, Norwood Farm, Northampton, Northamptonshire, August to November 2022

Museum of London Archaeology was commissioned by EDP on behalf of Miller Homes and Barwood Strategic Land Ltd to carry out an archaeological excavation in advance of residential development (Planning ref: S/2016/1324/EIA) on land to the east of the village of Harpole, Northamptonshire (NGR SP 70466 61653). The archaeological work comprised the investigation of the corridor of the Relief Road (Areas A and B) and adjacent development parcel to the east. The excavation areas located within these works were determined based on the results of the previous geophysical survey (Webb and Harrison 2015) and trial trench evaluation (Jeffery 2015). A further excavation area (Area F) was located at the northern edge of the development area to investigate two undated ditches identified during the evaluation of the previous Sandy Land Relief Road (Butler 2006; Foard-Colby 2006). The north-eastern and eastern edge of a Late Iron Age to Roman farmstead, positioned on a plateau within the landscape, was investigated in Areas A and B. When combined, the results of the previous geophysical survey, the trial trench evaluation and the current excavation results have enabled a broad understanding of how the farmstead developed. Multiple phases of activity were identified in each phase, and in the Late Iron Age to Early Roman period (Period 1; Phases 1.1 and 1.2) the periphery of the farmstead was dedicated to pastoral farming, with features including a trackway and livestock pens noted within Area A. The dry valley and the paleochannel, located in the north of the area, had low water levels in this period but their presence was clearly part of the reason the farmstead was established in this topographical location. Three cremation deposits were also noted across Areas A and B. The farmstead expanded in the Early to Middle Roman period (Period 2), with the establishment of a new rectilinear enclosure system (Phase 2.1), which was consequently modified in line with the reorganisation of the core of the farmstead (Phase 2.2a), located to the west of Area A. Features within these enclosures indicated the intensification of on-site crop processing and in the latter part of this period (Phase 2.2b) the enclosure system was extended south-east with additional industrial activity that comprised small-scale pottery production. The funerary traditions of this period (Phase 2.2b) were more varied, and they comprised a richly furnished burial and a fully articulated human leg, which had been deposited in the base of a ditch. In the Middle to Late Roman period (Period 3; Phase 3.1 and 3.2) the farmstead contracted, and a new boundary ditch was established to define the eastern extent. Possible quarrying activity was noted but few other features were present within Area A that dated to this period. Later activity in Areas B and F comprised medieval/post-medieval ridge and furrow cultivation and a post-medieval field boundary was also identified in Area B (Period 4). The latest activity identified in this phase of works comprised a modern levelling layer was identified in Area A (Period 5). Undated features, largely comprising burnt pits, were identified in Area F.