SNN117046 - AWHi Post-Excavation Assessment Report for Archaeological Recording at Blackgrounds North Northamptonshire AC320

Archaeological recording (AR) was undertaken at Blackgrounds North, Culworth Road, Chipping Warden, Nr Banbury, Northamptonshire. These works were carried out by MHI for Fusion-JV on behalf of High Speed 2 Ltd (hereafter Hs2). The work was undertaken within two adjacent parcels of land C31048 and C31049 which were located across two former fields. The site collectively covered a total area of 3.86ha and the site code was 1C20BLGAR. In the Blackgrounds North AR areas there were substantial archaeological remains dating from the middle Iron Age into the Roman period. This consisted of part of a substantial middle to late Iron Age agglomerated settlement which spanned both areas and also continued into the adjacent Blackgrounds East and Central site (Document No. 1MC12-EKF-EV-REP-CS10 000256). Agglomerated sites are not common within the East Midlands area, although Northamptonshire seems to have the most with around ten examples, with far fewer recorded in Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire. Of special interest is that Blackgrounds North is possibly the earliest agglomerated settlement in the county, and it was one of the three largest, possibly of village size. The Blackgrounds Site as a whole was the only agglomerated site from Northamptonshire that continued in use into the Roman period as a similar sized settlement; it became a Roman small town. In Blackgrounds North there were two long lived multi-phase structures in the east of C31049, with a further 26 structures and 17 associated enclosures. A series of pits and postholes were also identified. Blackgrounds North has produced the most Iron Age inhumation burials from any single site in the county with six examples; collectively there had been only 15 burials found from this period in Northamptonshire. Additionally, the Site included the only example of a pit containing two burials. The Site also produced a significant quantity of artefacts and ecofacts with evidence for copper and iron working, bone working and other craft manufacturing. In the Roman period there was a rebuilding of the former Iron Age north-west to south-east aligned holloway with a metalled road (identified in the west of area C31049), focussed on the main part of the small town (located to the south-east). The current Blackgrounds North site was largely agricultural during this period, although two contemporary burials were placed close to the routeway. During the late Roman period a small area of domestic occupation was established, adjacent to the routeway whose metalled surface had survived. Occupation comprised stone walls, surfaces and a well and these were located in the extreme south-eastern part of area C31049. This activity likely demarcated the north-western extent of the small town located to the south-east, investigated by the Blackgrounds East and Central Archaeological Recording areas (Document No. 1MC12-EKF-EV-REP-CS10-000256).