Cranford Business Park, Kettering: PXA and UPD

During 2016, Oxford Archaeology East carried out a series of excavations across a large area to the south-east of Kettering, Northamptonshire in advance of the construction of the Cranford Business Park development. Seven areas were excavated, comprising a total of 6.70ha, which revealed a broad range of features spanning the prehistoric to Roman periods. Iron Age ditches and a pit alignment were identified in Areas A and B in the eastern part of the development area, while a Late Neolithic-Early Bronze Age ring-ditch and a number of cremation burials were encountered nearby in Area C. This area also contained a probable Iron Age shrine along with evidence for contemporary activity in the form of ditches and pits. To the west of this, in Areas D and E, were the remains of Iron Age enclosures and fields surrounding several roundhouse gullies and associated settlement-related features. An extensive Iron Age and Romano-British site was revealed in Areas F1 and F2, extending on either side of the A6. Here a series of ditched enclosures were found, within which were the remains of structures, including two roundhouses, in addition to several wells, stone-lined tanks and corn driers. A single infant skeleton of Roman date was also found in a pit in Area F2. A moderately large artefactual and ecofactual assemblage was recovered, with pottery, worked stone, structural fired clay, animal bone and charred plant remains having the greatest potential for elucidating the range and chronology of activities being undertaken across the various sites. Of at least regional importance is the evidence for crop-processing and possible malting/brewing focused on Area F2, which appears to have been on a large scale. This, and the broader evidence for landscape use during the later prehistoric and Roman periods, would be further enhanced if combined with the results from the adjacent excavations undertaken to the east of Kettering - with which there appear to be some notable similarities.