Archaeological excavations for Project Angel on Fetter Street, the site of Northamptonshire County Council's new headquarters, by MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology) have revealed a number of exciting finds.
Part of a medieval backyard has been excavated, dating to the 13th-15th centuries. The area contained a heavily burnt stone-built bread oven and a stone-lined well shaft. The finds include medieval pottery and animal bone and smaller items including a collection of bronze pins, from either a personal sewing kit or perhaps used by a seamstress, earning a living working from her home. There is also a finely-worked bone pin and a 15th-century trade token.
In the next stage of work it is possible that remains of the house, contemporary with the backyard, will be found on the street frontage, along with more evidence of the trades and crafts by which they earned their living.
Andy Chapman, MOLA Archaeologist, said: Project Angel is providing a rare opportunity to look at the back streets of the medieval town, occupied by rows of small houses or cottages with their backyard plots, and to explore the everyday lives of the average medieval Northamptonian.”
Excavation of the 1,400sqm Project Angel site will continue until August.
