SNN117190 - Late Anglo-Saxon Defences at Earls Barton Primary School, Northamptonshire: Results of Radiocarbon Dating & Review of the Archaeological Evidence

An archaeological investigation during groundwork for a new teaching block at Earls Barton Primary School in 2024 revealed part of the defensive perimeter of a previously unknown late Saxon burh (fortified settlement). The remains consisted of a palisade-revetment trench and double enceinte of counterscarps and ditches, the morphological characteristics of which were comparable with late Saxon defensive works excavated elsewhere in England. A small assemblage of pottery suggested that the timber palisade was dismantled at some time in the 11th century, but other than this the chronology was vague. Long after their abandonment, the earthworks were evidently significant visual surface phenomena in the village. They were eventually buried for land reclamation, but the date of this event could not be ascertained. The earliest known land-use in this area was woodland in the late 18th to early 19th centuries, but possibly this was associated with a deer park mentioned in the early 14th century. A full archaeological stratigraphic analysis was presented in an Assessment Report, following which five samples of archaeological material were submitted for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Dating (radiocarbon-14) to achieve a greater understanding of the defensive circuit’s chronology. * * * This report presents the laboratory results and discusses how they may be interpreted within the broad framework of historical events. The report provides a brief introduction to the background of the discovery, a synopsis of prior archaeological and historical knowledge and a summary of the nature and significance of the defensive perimeter. It then outlines the aims of achieving absolute dates from radiocarbon dating and presents an illustrated description of the archaeological contexts from which material was selected for this purpose. This in turn is followed by the full laboratory results. The origin of the burh defences remains open to theory. Three scenarios are presented. One of these places it within the context of King Edward the Elder’s re-conquest of Danish-held territory, 913-921. Another assigns the defensive perimeter to the later 10th or early 11th century, its construction initiated by the local magnate in response to the resurgence of Danish invaders. The third theory also ascribes the works to a local magnate, but primarily as a means of control of trade and dominion. * * * Significantly, a carbonised cereal grain from a palisade-revetment post-setting produced a calibrated date-range which reflects a particularly turbulent period of England’s history known from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. It spans King Aethelred II’s tenacious resistance to the intensification of Viking raids after 991, the invasion of a Danish army led by King Sweyn in 1013 and the reign of Sweyn’s successor King Cnut 1016-35. It is uncertain, however, whether the cereal grain was deposited during the construction of a defensive perimeter in the late 10th century, or during the refurbishment of an existing circuit. Two additional grain samples were taken from the lowermost sediments of the palisade trench. These produced later (calibrated) date-ranges which suggest that, whilst it is possible that the defences were slighted at some juncture in the first half of the 11th century and thereafter abandoned, there is also the possibility that their demise came shortly after the Norman Conquest. Radiocarbon samples taken from two oak timbers revealed that the earthworks remained extent until the 14th century. This corroborates with the environmental evidence that suggested the earthworks remained open, overgrown and waterlogged for a considerable time. The timbers were found at the interface of the uppermost fill of a defensive ditch (where they had once floated, all but submerged) and a substantial land-reclamation layer. Circumstantial evidence, which suggests that the land reclamation was initiated by a manorial lord, augments a current academic research theme.