With archaeological appraisals becoming part of the planning requirements for most new developments, this page will become an evolving and permanent record of the archaeological investigations undertaken in Husbands Bosworth.

 

Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society Transactions Volume 81 2007

1-3 High Street (Development site; formerly woodyard and workshops) Three trenches were excavated by John Samuels Archaeological Consultants ahead of potential development of the site. Three features comprising two wells and a small, mid 12th century pit were encountered in the northern and central part of the site. The pit proved to be the only evidence of medieval activity on the site; the paucity of which was probably due to the presence of what appeared to be a large pond in the southern part of the site, closest to the [High] Street frontage, which had been filled in at some point after the mid 16th century. X.A.26.2006 Paul Gajos

Ashacre Close (Development site; former gardens to Bosworth House) One of six evaluation trenches revealed pits of late medieval or post-medieval date. Greg Jones

Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society Transactions Volume 82 2008

Cote Hill Farm, Station Road [Negative Watching Brief] Excavation for agricultural building for Mr. D Cook. Archaeological Project Services

Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society Transactions Volume 84 2009

Husbands Bosworth Quarry: Monitoring of site stripping revealed a scatter of tree-throw features, two of which contained flints and a couple of possible pits. A steep, dry valley side was uncovered beneath thick alluvium that sealed two very well-preserved hearths. The steep valley side has been observed elsewhere and is likely to have provided a natural boundary around the northern and western side of the Neolithic causewayed enclosure. Immediately above the steepest gradient of the slope two large pits were investigated that were similar in nature to the pit that contained the crouched burial to the south-west (TLAS 76, p.109-113). The features were relatively similar in form, c 2.5m and 1.5m long and extremely deep for their size (2m and 2.5m respectively). The upper fill was a back-filled soil with lower deposits consisting of re-deposited natural. Both features produced a reasonable quantity of flint from upper fills but no evidence of a burial was seen at the base, although fibrous material and a grouping of stones was noted at the eastern end of one of the pits. If these pits did represent burial features the potential for any bone survival was low due to the very gravelly natural ground that they were cut into. James Harvey

Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society Transactions Volume 90 2016

Welford Road: During October and November 2015 an archaeological excavation of land to the east of Welford Road was carried out in advance of residential development.  Geophysical and trial trenching identified an undated enclosure along with possible medieval and modern ditches. Five main phases of activity were identified, which produced a small assemblage of finds of mainly Iron Age pottery.
Phase 1 was a partially enclosed settlement, which comprised a curvilinear domestic enclosure, a small D-shaped enclosure, four roundhouses, a cluster of post holes and an alignment of pits. An early-middle Iron Age date is suggested.
Phase 2 featured a recti-linear enclosure of c.35m wide by more than 40m long, defined by a substantial ditch. The only features identified within the enclosure were two small pits and eight post holes, which may represent two ‘four post’ granaries. Suggested dating would indicate middle-late Iron Age.
Phase 3 identified a recti-linear enclosure. No datable artefacts were identified. However, the presence of rye, threshed wheat and hulled barley within the environmental samples would suggest a post-Roman date.
Phase 4 represents medieval activity, consisting of truncated furrows aligned NW-SE, identified in the geophysical survey.
Phase 5 was characterised by a NW-SE aligned enclosure probably representing modern field boundaries.
Post excavation a small number of artefacts were recovered from disturbed topsoil during a metal detector sweep. These included four silver strap ends of 8th to 10thC and two William I pennies.
The excavations identified a previously unknown prehistoric settlement, a post –Roman enclosure system and post-medieval field boundaries.
Leics. Museums & Records Service X.A.14.2015

 

Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society Transactions Volume 91 2017 pp. 246-7

Four very rare silver strap ends dated to the late ninth century found with intact silver rivets during exploratory work prior to development off Welford Road. (Acquired by Leicestershire Museums) 

Found at same site as above, a very rare find of four silver pennies of Cross-Fleury type dated 1066-68, and minted at London, Winchester, Nottingham and York. (Acquired by Leicestershire Museums).  

Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society Transactions Volume 92 2018 pp262

A geophysical survey was taken of land off Theddingworth Road to support an outline planning application for a residential development of 24 dwellings by Archaeological Research Services Ltd.

The results of the survey have revealed numerous anomalies of probable archaeological origin distributed across much of the proposed development area. As the proposed development area lies within the medieval core of the village it is reasonable to assume that the remains have origins in the medieval periods. The results suggest that the north-eastern third of the site may have been divided into a series of tofts, whereas the land to the south may have contained paddocks and enclosures associated with animal husbandry. It is possible that remains from other periods survive, particularly as evidence of Iron Age activity (MLE21686) has been identified c. 550m to the south-west.                                Richard Durkin  

 

 

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