MOLA Northampton unpublished report series

Northamptonshire Archaeology, commissioned by John Samuels Archaeological Consultants, conducted geophysical prospection as an archaeological evaluation of the proposed ‘Heart of the National Forest’ Youth Hostel, Moira, Leicestershire. A total of eight 30m x 30m grid-squares, totalling 0.72ha, were intensively surveyed by gradiometer along the expected line of the Roman Road. Although remnant furrows and a known iron pipeline were detected, the Roman Road line that was the target of the survey remained elusive. The survey did not succeed in locating the putative Roman Road extrapolated from the south-east. The lack of detection could be due to the poorly constructed nature of such roads in this area, the survey may not have intersected with the road, or the ephemeral feature may have been removed historically.

In May 2010, an archaeological trial trench evaluation was undertaken by Northamptonshire Archaeology, on behalf of Mr Nunnerley, to inform a planning application for the erection of a house and garage at 9 School Lane, Weldon, Northamptonshire. There were no archaeological features or finds present. A series of demolition layers, believed to have been deposited in 1995 from the 19th-century school site close by, were observed, overlying the original topsoil.

In August 2010, an archaeological evaluation was undertaken by Northamptonshire Archaeology on behalf of CgMs Consulting Ltd on land at Overstone Leys, Overstone, Northamptonshire. The development area, comprising 109ha of land, to the north-east of Northampton has been subject to a desk-based assessment and a geophysical survey. This report provides the results for the first phase of evaluation trenching on c6.4ha of land within the development area. Twenty-six trenches, each 25m long by 1.60m wide, were excavated. The only archaeological features were revealed in trench five, which had two gullies and a pit, none of which could be dated. A tiny fragment of possible Roman tile was found in the topsoil in trench 20.

An archaeological field evaluation was undertaken by Northamptonshire Archaeology, commissioned by Nexus Heritage on behalf of Bloor Homes, on 6.9ha of land at Brackley Sawmills, Brackley, Northamptonshire. This first phase of trial trenching comprised the excavation of twenty-three trenches. Archaeological features of possible Iron Age date were found in five trenches in the north-west part of the evaluation area. The features included postholes, the terminal of a ditch and remnant buried soils, which produced small quantities of Iron Age pottery.

MOLA (formerly Northamptonshire Archaeology) was commissioned to carry out an archaeological geophysical survey on c35ha of land at Manor farm, Market Harborough, Leicestershire. The survey identified an extensive complex of enclosures, roundhouses and droveway/trackway of Iron Age or Roman date. Medieval ridge and furrow was also recorded.

MOLA Northampton were commissioned to carry out an evaluation on land at Norwich Road, Swaffham, Norfolk. Twenty-four trenches were excavated, Six undated narrow ditches were identified as well as three medieval ditches, probably field boundaries.

MOLA was commissioned to carry out a detailed magnetometer survey on land at Pytchley Lodge Farm, Kettering, Northamptonshire. The survey identified an extensive set of archaeological remains of Iron Age to Roman date. These included ditched enclosures, roundhouses, a pit alignment and a possible square barrow. The most prominent element of the site was a large double-ditched enclosure with two annexes and a central roundhouse.

In February 2014, an archaeological trial trench evaluation was carried out by MOLA Northampton on land at Burton Old Road, Lichfield. The line of the Roman road 'Ryknild Street' was not found in any of the trenches and is presumed to lie to the west or east of the development area. A single linear ditch, aligned north-west to south-east, was recorded in one trench, from which a single sherd of pottery, dated to the 12th - 14th centuries, was recovered.

The presence of two ring ditches, of probable Bronze Age date, was confirmed during evaluation by MOLA Northampton at Gunvil Hall Farm, Wymondham, Norfolk. Two satellite cremation burials were probably associated with the ring ditches. However, there was only one sherd of pottery, from the topsoil close by, that was of middle Neolithic to early Bronze Age date. Pottery of middle Iron Age date came from the topsoil by one ring ditch and from a section in the other, as well as from adjacent ditches and pits, suggesting occupation or settlement of that period deliberately located by the ring ditches. There was also a ditch of possible Roman date elsewhere in the field. Features were also seen that corresponded with field boundaries illustrated on historic maps.

Northamptonshire Archaeology, now trading as MOLA, was commissioned by the Guildhouse Consultancy, acting on behalf of Cemex UK Materials Ltd, to undertake fieldwalking and metal detecting surveys followed by trial trenching on two proposal areas at Norton Subcourse Quarry, the Southern (Phases 11-13) and Northern (Phases 14-15) Extensions. Features were very low in number and all were ditches/gullies, no features were datable. No pre-modern metalwork was recovered. A background scatter of small quantities of worked flint of Late Neolithic-Early Bronze Age date was present in all Phases. Roman activity is hinted at by the presence of seven isolated pottery sherds, which suggests that if cropmarks are of Roman date that they are `peripheral` to any main settlement area. Only three sherds of medieval pottery (all Grimston Ware) were recovered. Post-medieval pottery sherds were present, but there were no concentrations of medieval or post -medieval pottery and manuring seems the most likely source. Some correlation between cropmarks and features was noted, where a focus of activity is clearly present in the Northern Extension and there is a possibility of other small foci at the western and eastern ends of Phase 15. The very restricted feature characterisation and the general lack of finds coupled with the negative environmental evidence suggests that, in all three locations, any sites present are likely to be `marginal` to other foci. Elsewhere the evidence suggests minimal/limited activity and the absence of any large scale sites.