King's Meadow Lane, Higham Ferrers, Northamptonshire Archaeological Evaluation

The Oxford Archaeological Unit undertook a two-stage field evaluation for the Duchy of Lancaster on land south-west of King's Meadow Lane, Higham Ferrers, Northamptonshire between 2nd - 17th October 2000. Magnetometer survey of c. 4.5 ha. of the suggested Roman settlement extent to the west of the evaluation area added considerable detail to previous investigations. This defined ditched areas, or land plots, adjacent to a road/trackway aligned north-east to south-west along the top of the valley slope. Targeted evaluation trenching of the features identified within the geophysical survey, supplemented by a 1% sample of the 'blank' areas, demonstrated that good evidence for occupation survives within the area of the Roman settlement. In situ pitched limestone surfaces, representing structural or yard surfaces, were encountered within the ditched area defined in the northern portion of Area G.

The geophysical survey also identified and located a previously-noted ring ditch. A single targeted trench (5) located across the northern side of the monument demonstrated this to be a two-phase feature. Flints from the excavated fills of the ditch were not closely dated, but unstratified material from this and adjacent trenches was mostly of Neolithic character.

A substantial limestone structure, likely to be a crop drying or malting oven, was located in Trench 3. No dateable material was found in association with this feature although a medieval or early post-medieval date seem most likely based upon its construction and morphology. A good charred assemblage of cultivated and processed grains was sampled from the basal fill of the feature.