SNN117191 - Land West of Middleton Cheney, West Northamptonshire: Archaeological Evaluation Report

Oxford Archaeology (OA) was commissioned by The Environmental Dimension Partnership Ltd (EDP), on behalf of Barwood Development Securities Ltd, to undertake a trial trench evaluation at the land west of Middleton Cheney, West Northamptonshire, at the site of a proposed housing development. The site is centred on SP 4945 4230. The development area totalled 9.2ha. The trenches excavated for this evaluation comprised a 3% coverage of the site, equating to 51 trial trenches, each measuring 1.8 x 30m. The fieldwork took place in two phases: two weeks in May 2025 (25 trenches) and one week in August 2025 (26 trenches) following crop harvest. The distribution of archaeological features broadly corresponded to the geophysical results, identifying a number of enclosures and field systems. The ditches were largely associated with field and settlement enclosures. One feature, in Trench 8, lies within a rectilinear enclosure. Owing to its dimensions, form and the concentration of finds, including charcoal, within one of the lower fills, the feature could possibly be a sunken featured building, but the feature was recorded as a ditch. Other discrete features within the enclosures across the site suggest settlement with associated field systems. There was a general paucity of finds across most of the trenches. Finds were concentrated within trenches 3, 4, 8, 14, 22, 23 and 25, only five of which produced dateable material. The pottery provided dates of midSaxon (c AD 650–850), which was present in all five trenches, and ‘high medieval’ (c AD 1100–1300). The mid-Saxon material is a shell tempered Maxey-type ware. The ‘high-medieval’ sherds comprise shelly, unglazed, Banbury and Northants-type wares. No pottery from any other period was recovered from the site during this evaluative phase of works. A small quantity of fired clay was recovered from trenches 8, 22 and 23. Worked flint, including one piercer tool, was confined to a single ditch in Trench 14.