Series: MOLA Northampton unpublished report series

Northamptonshire Archaeology (now MOLA Northampton) carried out open area excavation on 14.45ha of land. Early Neolithic flint and a polished stone axe was possibly related to the nearby Cardington causewayed enclosure. Two Early Bronze Age ring ditches sat on a gravel ridge between the River Great Ouse and Elstow Brook. A small round barrow, 6.5m diameter, enclosed a deep grave containing the crouched burial of a woman within an oak-lined chamber. Within a nearby ring ditch, 30m diameter, a pit containing three crouched burials, probably within an oak chamber, is radiocarbon dated to the early in the Middle Bronze Age. East of the large ring ditch, an L-shaped ditch with a central opening, radiocarbon dated to the Middle/Late Bronze Age transition, is perhaps the final feature of the monument group, paralleling similar features at other contemporary ring ditch monuments. Shallow rectilinear ditches formed a land boundary extending north and south from the Bronze Age ring ditch, and other contemporary ditches were remnants of a rectilinear field system. A contemporary waterhole produced waterlogged wood and the final fill contained decorated pottery of the Early Iron Age. Three ditches formed a Middle/Late Iron Age boundary ditch system, also aligned north-south, with a nearby rectangular enclosure. Use of the boundary system continued into the Roman period, when it defined the western limit of an extensive Romano-British ladder settlement, dated to the 1st to 4th centuries AD. Only the northern fringe lay within the excavated area, but this contained a dense system of successive boundary ditches, along with pits, a stone-lined well and an inhumation burial. Anglo-Saxon sunken-featured buildings are dated to the 5th-6th centuries, and a middle Saxon mausoleum containing a single inhumation with a second inhumation outside is dated to the late 8th century. Thereafter the land was under agricultural use, with remnant furrows of the medieval ridge and furrow system.

MOLA Northampton carried out archaeological assessment on unauthorised groundworks at Delapre Golf Course, Northampton in April 2014. The groundworks comprised the removal of shrubs and trees and the stripping of topsoil with a mechanical excavator over a 0.106ha area. The excavated area had been reduced by no more than 0.30m, exposing the subsoil, or some patches of natural substrate. In some areas topsoil remained in situ. The near edge of the topsoil bank at the north of the site was removed. Archaeological assessment included the cleaning of stripped surfaces by hand, the scanning of spoilheaps and the stripped surfaces with a metal detector, the retrieval of finds, and a full programme of recording. Twentieth-century golfing earthworks were uncovered, as well as trenches for service pipes and a former tree line. A bank surrounding the area was shown to be constructed of redeposited natural clays and modern building debris. A number of finds were recovered, including post-medieval lead shot, horse tack, and a 14th-century silver annular brooch.

A programme of archaeological monitoring, investigation and recording was undertaken by MOLA Northampton, on behalf of Burmor Construction between May 2013 and January 2015 during redevelopment works on land at the former Welland Motor Factors site, North Street, Stamford, Lincolnshire. A truncated natural substratum was recorded throughout the investigation area, and a post-medieval cellar of brick and stone construction was recorded. No archaeological artefacts were present.

A programme of archaeological observation, investigation and recording was undertaken by MOLA (formerly Northamptonshire Archaeology), on behalf of Northamptonshire County Council between August and September 2013 during groundworks for the redesign of the A45/A5 crossroads at Weedon Bec, Northamptonshire. A disturbed stratigraphy was recorded throughout the investigation area. No archaeological features or artefacts were present.

A programme of archaeological observation, investigation and recording was undertaken by MOLA Northampton on behalf of Connolly homes Ltd, during April 2014, during groundwork associated with a new residential development on land at 2-4 Hayes Road, Deanshanger. No archaeological features or artefacts were present

MOLA Northampton undertook a programme of archaeological observation at Canons Ashby House, Northamptonshire, during works for the replacement of a sewage treatment tank. Excavations revealed a 19th-century ceramic land drain along with a modern overflow pipe, and a layer of modern build-up. A possible footings trench may have been observed below the original tank position. One piece of iron fencing spike was found

MOLA Northampton was commissioned by CgMs Consulting, on behalf of Hall Bros/ Smiths Construction, to carry out archaeological observation on the site of the former quarry at Whitsundoles Farm, Salford, Bedfordshire, during the restoration of the landfill site. The first stage of the archaeological observation and monitoring took place during the importation of inert material to raise existing ground levels across agricultural land to facilitate the establishment of woodland and associated habitat (CB/13/02450/MW). The second stage of works involved archaeological recording during the construction of a noise attenuation bund built around the landfill area. The archaeological observation works therefore comprised two distinct phases; the first stage was the observation of the vegetation strip across the proposed land fill area. The second phase comprised the monitoring and archaeological recording within an area from which the topsoil had been removed to provide the base of a clay bund in the northern part of the site. The site is situated within an extensive and rich archaeological landscape with evidence dating from the Mesolithic up to the present day. The archaeological works confirmed the presence of ditches which are assumed to be prehistoric in date although no dateable material was recovered. A posthole of unknown date and a probable hedgerow were also recorded.

A strip, map and record action was undertaken by MOLA Northampton, on behalf of Mr Mark Jones in May 2015 during the construction of a new cattle building on land off Bridle Road, Old, Northamptonshire. A relatively thin topsoil directly overlying the natural substratum was recorded throughout the investigation area. No archaeological remains or artefacts were present.

MOLA Northampton was commissioned by CgMs Consulting to carry out an archaeological trial trench evaluation on land at Farthingstone Road, Weedon, Northamptonshire. Thirty trenches were excavated to gather sufficient information regarding any archaeological remains present, and to investigate possible archaeological features identified by a geophysical survey. Three trenches contained a small number of ditches and gullies with dated finds suggesting a succession of field boundaries, erosion gullies and drainage ditches dating from the 11th to 13th and 15th centuries. Archaeological features corresponding to geophysical anomalies comprised two ditches and a natural gully feature. The remaining archaeological features recorded in these trenches were not identified by the survey due to limited sediment textural differences between clay feature fills and the Lias clay substrate, and masking effects of ridge and furrow. No archaeological features or deposits were found in the remaining 27 trenches with features identified by the geophysical survey as potentially archaeological consisting of a number of natural features such as ironstone beds and lateral contacts between different geologies. The enclosure ditch identified by the geophysical survey appears to be a composite of archaeological and natural features rather than a single discrete feature, although it is also equally possible that it may just be a poorly preserved ditch and related to medieval activity at the Old Priory site nearby. No evidence for settlement was found in any of the excavated trenches.

Archaeological excavation was carried out by Northamptonshire Archaeology between May 2012 and July 2012, on behalf of Keepmoat Homes. An area of Iron Age and Roman settlement was recorded that formed part of a wider landscape of rural settlement on the south facing slope of the Nene valley. The earliest features were a small number of early Neolithic pits, a single early Iron Age pit preceded the construction of a long-maintained middle to late Iron Age boundary and associated settlement. This settlement was replaced by enclosures and ditch systems in the early Romano-British period. The rural settlement was maintained and modified through to the 3rd century AD, evidence for continuation into the latest years of the Romano-British period in the 4th century was not recovered and it is likely that the area was abandoned in the later 3rd century AD. The core of the settlement associated with these features was not identified within the boundaries of the development area, although the presence of a mid Romano-British corndryer oven and a large well indicates that their homes were likely to be in the vicinity. It is possible that low ground impact buildings had been present that left little trace in the archaeological record.