The Knoll, Long March Industrial Estate, Daventry
Clients: Daventry District Council
Proposal: Industrial Development
Armour Heritage was commissioned by Daventry District Council to undertake a programme of archaeological trial trenching at The Knoll, situated at the southeastern extent of Daventry within the Long March Industrial Estate as a condition of planning consent.
The site lay to the southwest of Borough Hill, an Iron Age hillfort, which also contained a number of Bronze Age features. Some 700m east of the site a fortified enclosure known as Burnt Walls Camp is also situated. This site comprises the remains of a broadly triangular enclosure bounded on the southwest by a bank and external ditch. There is a causeway across the ditch near the southern extent which may represent an original entrance. This enclosure is thought to be of possible Iron Age or medieval date. Given this archaeological background to the area, the LPA indicated that an archaeological evaluation should be completed at the site prior to its development.
In collaboration with one of our carefully selected sub-contractors, nine trenches were excavated across the proposed development area. The evaluation identified a total of nine furrows, remnants of a former ridge and furrow field system of likely post-medieval date. A small quantity of post-medieval pottery was recovered from the fills, confirming the dating of the features. No other archaeological features were identified at the site, and following submission of a report on the works to the LPA, no further archaeological intervention was required prior to commencement of the development.
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