Highways Agency
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Introduction
Introduction
The Highways Agency is committed to protecting the environment, including our archaeological heritage, and mitigating the effects of its projects on it.
The bypass scheme will remove a significant amount of traffic from the towns of Rushden and Higham Ferrers, reducing the number of accidents and improving the environment within them.
The land around Higham Ferrers and Rushden is known to be rich in archaeological remains dating to the prehistoric, Roman and Anglo-Saxon periods. When the decision was taken to construct the new bypass to the east of the towns there was always the possibility of new sites being found.
Background
Background
Archaeological investigations began in 1996 when Northamptonshire Archaeology undertook a study to find out whether any sites were known about on the line of the route. The county Sites and Monuments Record, held by the Council's Historic Environment Team, showed six suspected sites, identified from cropmarks, lying close by. Four of these were Iron Age or Roman in date and most were sited on Boulder Clay which is traditionally thought to have been less attractive to early settlement than the sands and gravels of the county.
wo sites appeared to be directly affected by the new road. One was a group of small enclosures lying in the field behind The Ferrers School. The other was a single ditch on the south-east side of Rushden. Other sites lay further away from the route.
The extent of the site of the enclosures behind the school became better defined through a fieldwalking survey. Roman and Iron Age pottery was recovered from the surface within the road corridor. Later surveys with a magnetometer revealed a pattern of further enclosures in the same area. As a final stage of evaluation, trial trenches were excavated and confirmed the enclosures as being IronAge (500 BC AD 50) and Roman (AD 50 400), and almost certainly part of a farmstead.
The scale of other site proved to be less well defined. The sparse scatters of Iron Age and Roman pottery on the surface left it unclear whether a site lay within the road corridor or a short distance away.
As both sites would be affected by the new road, the Highways Agency decided that further action was required. It was concluded that the IronAge and Roman enclosures should be excavated ahead of construction and the southern site made the subject of a 'watching brief' during earth-moving, with a provision for excavation in the event of archaeological remains coming to light.
Iron age and roman farmstead
Iron Age and Roman Farmstead
When the upper layer of soil was removed the pattern of enclosures and field ditches became apparent, but there had clearly been a great deal of re-design over the course of the occupation. The chief archaeological problem was to resolve the mass of intercutting ditches and discover a logical sequence of activity.
Seven phases of ditch digging were eventually identified.
The site was first occupied in the middle Iron Age (about 200 BC) when a group of round houses, defined by circular eaves drainage gullies, were constructed. Later, by the 1st century AD, these were replaced by a series of enclosures. Subsequent modifications shifted the occupation southward. The site, or at least this part of it, was abandoned in the later 2nd century AD after a relatively brief but intense period of activity.
The site was part of a farming settlement. Charred grain recovered from soil samples show that barley and two types of wheat were consumed on site. Weeds such as cleavers and fat hen were probably harvested with the cereal crop, and their presence suggests that the crops were grown locally rather than being imported. The main domestic animals were cattle and sheep, although bones of horses, pigs and dogs were also found. The enclosures were probably used for controlling farm animals.
Unusually for this type of site a number of almost complete but broken pottery vessels were found in some of the ditches. It is not known why they were deposited but it is possible that they were dedications to bring well-being and good fortune.
A bronze finger ring was found with one group of pots. The centrepiece shows a stylistic representation of two snakes heads; a symbol of health and healing, rebirth and the spirits departed.
Most of the pottery from the site was made locally. In the Iron Age they used mostly fairly small hand-made jars. Later Iron Age jars were often hand-made but with rims and decorative designs on the upper part of the vessel finished on a slow potter's wheel. In the Roman period the pots were typically thrown on a fast wheel and the lower Nene valley became a nationally important pottery production centre. There were a few fine-ware imports from Gaul and also locally made copies.
The romans and after
The Romans and after
Although this part of the farmstead was abandoned early in the Roman period, the settlement probably shifted only a short distance to the west. We know that the region was heavily populated throughout the Roman period with a town at Irchester, a village north-west of Higham, pottery kilns at Rushden and several villas along the Nene valley.
The importance of the area continued beyond the Roman occupation. When the Saxons arrived during the century after AD 400 they established a settlement to the north of the present town. This grew and was probably part of the 8th-9th century royal estate of Irthlingborough. A manor had been created from the estate by the 10th century at which time the main elements of manor, church and market place probably formed the core of the village.
Meanwhile the lands to the east of Higham and Rushden became part of the medieval common fields of those villages. They have been agricultural land ever since as the extensive traces of plough furrows recorded by magnetometer show. The field with the Iron Age and Roman farmstead was called Berry Hedge Furlong.
Southern iron age enclosures
Southern Iron Age Enclosures
During road building parts of two enclosure ditches were discovered in the middle of the road corridor and were excavated as part of the Watching Brief. Enclosure 1 was probably originally oval in shape while Enclosure 2 had a sub-rectangular south-west corner.
Neither ditch yielded many finds, but radiocarbon dating gave a very similar result to that from the middle Iron Age phase of the farmstead to the north. The lack of rubbish, including charred cereal remains, suggests that the enclosures may have been used for corralling stock rather than living in.
The shortage of surface finds and the lack of clarity of the cropmarks, due to the unresponsive clay soil, make this type of site relatively invisible without detailed archaeological investigation. It may be more common than previously realised. This site may have been a counterpart to nearby domestic sites and adds to the picture of early farming on the claylands of Northamptonshire.
A full report on the excavations will be published in Northamptonshire Archaeology the journal of the Northamptonshire Archaeological Society. The finds from both sites are stored in Northamptonshire Archaeology offices while being studied and will eventually be deposited in the county museum store for future reference.
Further information
Further Information
For further information on archaeology in Northamptonshire contact:
Northamptonshire Archaeology
2 Bolton House
Wootton Hall Park
Northampton
NN4 8BE
Tel: 01604 700493/4
Fax: 01604 702822
sparry@northamptonshire.gov.uk
www.northantsarchaeology.co.uk
Acknowledgements:
Maps based on Ordnance Survey mapping.
Northamptonshire County Council Licence No. LA 076767
Front Cover: Aerial Close-up Ltd.
Colbeck's Map: Northamptonshire Record Office
Front Cover:
Coin Obv: Denarius of Septimus Severus AD193-211
Coin Rev: Image of Roma with spear and shield and holding victory Iron Age Enclosure Ditch
Produced on behalf of the Highways Agency by Northamptonshire Archaeology