Series: Great Bowden Heritage unpublished report series

Test pit excavation in rear garden of house at the top of Burnmill Road near the summit of the hill named Bowden Ridge which separates the town of Market Harborough from the village of Great Bowden. 3 sherds of Roman pottery and 8 sherds of Victorian/modern pottery were recovered.

This test pit excavation was carried out by Great Bowden Heritage and Archaeology in the back garden of a house on Great Bowden Road in the north-eastern part of Market Harborough and at the eastern end of the long hill named Bowden Ridge. It was carried out on 6th May 2017. The area was disturbed. In total 7 sherds of Roman pottery, 1 mid-late Iron Age sherd, 2 medieval, 7 post-medieval and 1 modern sherds were found.

This test pit excavation was carried out by Great Bowden Heritage and Archaeology in the back garden of a house in Great Bowden Road, in the north-east part of Market Harborough and on the southern slopes of the hill known as Bowden Ridge. The work was carried out on 2nd September 2017. 1 sherd of Roman grey ware, 6 sherds of medieval pottery, 4 sherds of post-medieval pottery and 4 sherds of modern pottery were recovered. The pottery was unstratified showing disturbance through ploughing and garden cultivation.

Five test pits were dug within an area 40m x 40m in June 2010. No firm evidence was found during the excavation for a dwelling although the flat compacted earth surface just below the turf in Pit 1 was unusual. One would not have expected to find this kind of smooth compaction in field soil undisturbed for centuries. Normally the soil would be of the same consistency as that below the turf and contain increasingly more clay with decreasing amounts of humous the deeper the pit was dug. The majority of dateable finds at this pit were medieval with one or two stray finds from a later date. This has to suggest nearby domestic activity in the medieval period. The stones in Pit 2 form part of the possible foundation of a building. From the evidence of cobbled surfaces on both sides of the stones it would seem to be more likely a barn with a cobbled stone floor and yard, rather than a dwelling house. A barn is mentioned in the 1800 will of Henry Shuttleworth but it is not clear in which close it was situated. Pottery was found close to the principal stones. This pottery is all Midland Purple type and needs to be accurately dated. Pottery of this type could date from 1350 until 1500 with later type of the same pottery being made until about 1750. The presence of large bore, early clay pipe stems suggest this may be post-medieval rather than earlier.

The field was walked on 22nd May and 6th June 2004. 7 prehistoric flints, 1 late Iron Age/early Roman sherd, 1 sherd of Roman grey ware, 1 piece of Roman glass, 79 sherds of early medieval and medieval pottery, 209 sherds of medieval and early post-medieval and various modern sherds were found. An unusually large number of clay pipe remains were noted in the field.

Traverses 1-32 were walked on 25th October 2009, traverses 33-48 on 31st October 2010. Pottery finds indicate that the land has been ploughed from medieval times onwards. Apart from medieval/post-medieval pottery, the only finds were 2 sherds of Roman grey ware and a small amount of flint (including 1 possible Lower Palaeolithic flint).

Fieldwalking took place on 9th, 11th and 12th September 2009. 12 prehistoric flints (including flakes, cores and a scraper), 2 sherds Late Iron Age pottery, 9 sherds of Roman, 18 sherds of medieval and 53 sherds of post-medieval were recovered.

Test pitting in Buckminster Close, Nether Green, Great Bowden from 2006-2009 with report updated in 2018.

Research and fieldwork on the site of an old barn in Sutton Road, Great Bowden, Leicestershire.

Test pitting in paddock called The Strip next to Great Bowden Village Hall during Festival of Archaeology 2010. Report updated in 2018 after further excavation done following planning application.