SNN41216 - Excavations on the Mayorhold, Northampton, 1971

Excavations on a small site on the east side of the Mayorhold, Northampton, during the summer of 1971 recovered evidence of occupation stretching back at least to the twelfth century. Earlier activity is possible but traces of this would either have been removed by later disturbances or have lain beneath the west end of the site which was not excavated below late medieval levels. The excavations, necessarily limited because of available resources and the need to deposit spoil within the site boundary, were situated between Bearward Street and Bull Head Lane on the site of the Green Dragon, one of Northampton's older public houses. The site lay immediately north of Lee's postulated Saxon defensive perimeter. In addition to the purely archaeological results the site was important as the first venture within the medieval town walls by the then newly established Development Corporation Archaeological Unit. The considerable interest shown in the site by Northamptonians and the local media provided an invaluable stimulus for subsequent archaeological work within the town.