Land East of Brackmills Northampton

Oxford Archaeology was commissioned by CgMs Consulting to undertake an
evaluation of a site known as Land East of Brackmills, Northampton (centred on SP
7880 5890).
The work was undertaken between 6th and 23rd January 2014. A total of 28
trenches were excavated across the site.
Archaeological remains dating to the middle Iron Age, late Iron Age/early Roman
and Roman periods were recorded. In addition, evidence for medieval ridge and
furrow agriculture was present across the site.
Evidence of settlement dating to the middle Iron Age was found in the higher,
southern part of the site. A series of small sub-circular enclosures, recorded as
geophysical anomalies, appear to date from this period. In addition, further pits and
ditches containing Iron Age pottery, animal bone and fragments of oven or hearth
furniture were present.
Settlement activity appears to continue into the late Iron Age/early Roman period,
again focused on the high ground overlooking the River Nene. The activity
continues into the Roman period proper, with some evidence that it became more
extensive in the late Roman period. A length of stone-built wall footing was present
in one of the trenches and is almost certainly Roman in date. Whether this formed
part of a building or some other structure was not clear.
Extensive earthworks, the remains of medieval ridge and furrow agriculture, are
present across the site. The presence of late medieval pottery in a layer adjacent to
an existing pond on the eastern boundary of the site may suggest that the pond
formed part of the medieval landscape.
Possible evidence of small-scale post-medieval quarrying was present at the
southern edge of the site where a layer of sandy silt containing frequent stone
fragments was recorded. It is noticeable that evidence of ridge and furrow, either as
earthworks or as geophysical anomalies, is absent from this area, having, perhaps,
been destroyed by quarrying