Evaluation of the Medieval Village of Botolph Bridge, Orton Longueville, Peterborough

The site of the medieval village of Botolph Bridge, Orton Longueville, Peterborough is presently under threat from housing development. During the 1980s an earthwork survey and excavations within the manorial enclosure highlighted the importance of the site and suggested occupation for the middle Saxon period onwards.
This report describes recent evaluations by the Archaeological Field Unit (CCC) which have identified areas of major archaeological significance, separated by a hollow way which appears to have been a well-maintained medieval route way, paved and bounded by fences, with cobbled yards from adjacent properties backing straight onto the road boundaries. In earlier times the hollow way was demarcated by ditches.
On the south side of the hollow way are the remains of a medieval house with hearths, rubbish pits and yards. Artefacts recovered from this part of the site suggest that there is good preservation of activity areas and workshops.
On the northern side of the hollow way lies the enclosure of the medieval manorial site. Here rubbish pits offer comparable information from a high status property. The remains of a barn which lay in this enclosure was excavated in 1987. Boundary ditches within the enclosure suggest the expansion of the manorial site during the medieval period and the possible displacement of other village remains, implying settlement shift.
A number of Roman features, including rubbish pits, have also been recognised.