Late Mesolithic to Early Anglo-Saxon Land-Use at Houghton Regis North, Bedfordshire

This publication presents the results of a selection of Albion Archaeology investigations undertaken between 2015 and 2019 in advance of construction of the Woodside Link and the housing-led development known as Houghton Regis North 1 (HRN1), on the north-east outskirts of Houghton Regis in Central Bedfordshire. The investigations produced evidence for human activity spanning the late Mesolithic through to the modern period; the medieval and post-medieval periods are not covered in this monograph. The combined publication of these projects is only a means of presenting similar chronological and spatial evidence; it is not an attempt at an overall synthesis – not least because other projects in the HRN1 development area are still underway or are yet to be commissioned.

The earliest evidence for human activity comprised at least 12 large pits that were radiocarbon-dated to the late Mesolithic. Their discovery was unexpected and is highly significant, given the rarity of features of this period – they represent the largest group of late Mesolithic large pits found to date in England. They were dug, presumably deliberately, adjacent to palaeochannels, which may have been created by seasonal springs or run-off from the higher ground near the source of the Ouzel Brook. Such a location would probably have been highly significant to the hunter-gatherer communities in the area. The pits became the focus for repeated returns and interventions (i.e. filling and recutting) over hundreds and possibly thousands of years. The only early Neolithic pits – much smaller in size – so far identified within the development were also located in this area.

A monument of probable late Neolithic/early Bronze Age date was found adjacent to the present course of the Houghton Brook. It comprised an earlier, smaller ring-ditch, which was completely enclosed by a later ring-ditch. A very similar monument, also not firmly dated, was found at nearby HRN3206 (published separately). Two contemporary pairs of pits were found c.80m north-east of the monument on the other side of the brook.

All the investigation areas produced evidence for far more extensive activity in the middle Bronze Age to the early Iron Age. It took the form of field/enclosure systems, activity foci (usually indicated by clusters of small pits but also by occasional post-built structures), extensive boundaries (including segmented ditches), post alignments, and a single isolated inhumation. The dating evidence was often limited to a small amount of fairly undiagnostic pottery and a small number of radiocarbon dates. However, there is sufficient evidence to suggest that much of this activity originated in the middle Bronze Age, a period characterised by both an increasing population and societal change.

The late Iron Age/early Roman period also sees extensive evidence for activity, including farmsteads. Within one excavation area, a small cremation cemetery (comprising 13 graves) was deliberately located adjacent to a trackway; it was associated with an (unexcavated) farmstead to the south.

Three Roman settlements are known within the Houghton Regis North development; to date only that within HRN3206 has been subject to extensive investigation. The largest, extending over c.5.5ha, straddles the Ouzel Brook and, as reported in this monograph, has been investigated by geophysical survey, trial trenching and a narrow service trench that traversed it. The combined evidence, including that from an amateur excavation in the 1980s, suggests that the settlement contains at least one substantial building with a hypocaust and a tiled roof. One of the most significant finds from this largest settlement was a sherd of pottery with ink-written graffiti. The third settlement lies at the south end of the development and has only been subject to geophysical survey and trial trenching. However, its northern environs revealed two trackways, next to one of which were three crop-processing areas. These contained five drying ovens (two well-preserved), a crop-processing building and a plank-lined pit.

There was extensive evidence for Roman field/enclosure systems and trackways, some of which may have originated in the middle Bronze Age. These were largely devoid of evidence for activity with the exception of occasional isolated structures and one possible burial. Adjacent to the present course of the Ouzel Brook, enclosures that were established in the late Iron Age appear to have been modified in the Roman period and continued in use, albeit for livestock management rather than settlement. In addition to the fields, which are presumed to be associated with mixed arable/pastoral farming, a block of bedding trenches represents an area of horticulture.

The only firm evidence for early Anglo-Saxon activity were two isolated sunken-featured buildings. Their presence reflects a wider pattern of small-scale and dispersed occupation, often in the vicinity of sites that were in use in the Roman period, with the main contemporary settlements probably underlying modern Houghton Regis and nearby villages.

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