ULAS archaeologists have recovered Iron Age pottery and found evidence of a roundhouse at Welford in Northamptonshire. Last year, an initial nine trench evaluation of a site at Newlands Road in Welford identified several features of Iron Age date including ditches, pits and a narrow gully. The site has now been stripped of soil under…
Tag: Northamptonshire
Marston Trussell: life in a medieval village
Situated halfway between Market Harborough and Husbands Bosworth, on the Northamptonshire side of the River Welland, is the sleepy little village of Marston Trussell. The village is first mentioned in the Domesday Book (AD 1086) as Mersitone, meaning marsh settlement; the Trussell family presumably adding their name to the village after they became lords of…
Iron Age settlement found near Brixworth in Northamptonshire
In 2014, archaeologists from ULAS investigated a 7 hectare area of agricultural land situated between the A508 and Pitsford Reservoir, just south of Brixworth in Northamptonshire. The evaluation was undertaken as part of an archaeological impact assessment in advance of proposed residential development. Work targeted previously identified geophysical anomalies and revealed an array of archaeological…
Archaeologists return to Pineham, Northamptonshire
In 2014, ULAS archaeologists returned to Pineham in Northamptonshire to carry out a second season of excavation. Now, with two seasons of fieldwork completed, the large-scale excavation has investigated a total of 12 hectares of land in advance of major residential development for Taylor Wimpey (East Midlands). The excavations have focused on two fields, targeting…
Iron Age treasure found in Northamptonshire
A 2012 ULAS project near Weston by Welland in Northamptonshire has uncovered a small cache of Iron Age silver coins. The site is located on a prominent hilltop, with spectacular views over the surrounding countryside, and lies within a rich Iron Age and Roman landscape. Significant sites nearby include the Gartree Road, which runs south-east out of Leicester…
Evidence of medieval iron production found at Irchester, Northamptonshire
A recent investigation of three fields east of Irchester in Northamptonshire has uncovered tantalising glimpses of a lost medieval iron smelting industry in the village. The work was undertaken by ULAS for the landowner in order to assess the likely impact of a proposed housing development on any underlying archaeology. Of the twenty-five trenches excavated,…
Roman ‘smoke-house’ found at Pineham, Northamptonshire
From April to November 2013 one of the largest (7.5ha) single-phase ULAS excavations took place at Pineham, Northamptonshire. Directed by James Harvey and Dr Gavin Speed the site is located in the Nene Valley, 4km south-west of Northampton. The excavation revealed evidence for human activity from Upper Palaeolithic artefacts through to post-medieval ploughing, with the…
Medieval Wellingbrough unearthed
Wayne Jarvis has recently completed an archaeological excavation at The Dun Cow Public House in Wellingborough (Northamptonshire), following on from a programme of trial trenching earlier this year. The site lies in the area of the former medieval settlement of Wellingborough, within a tenement group fronting Broad Green which forms part of the northern gateway…
Iron Age comb found at Brackley, Northamptonshire
A large forty-three trench evaluation carried out by ULAS off Thurweston Road, Brackley was very much hampered by the weather conditions during January and February. James Harvey reports that concentrated Mid-Late Iron Age settlement activity was recorded on the higher ground within the northern area of the site that included possible enclosure ditches, a roundhouse…
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