From the 19th century onward, there are many published reports and papers that are still relevant to the modern study of the archaeology and history of Northampton and Northamptonshire.

As many of these papers are now difficult to get hold of as print copy, and many have not been previously digitised.  The aim is to provide these publications as PDF files, sometimes chapter by chapter for the longer monograph volumes, so society members, and others, can have easier and free access to this material to inform their own interest and research.

The intention is to expand this section as 'new' old material becomes available in digital form.

Northampton Development Corporation
From the early 1970s until its demise in 1985, the NDC Archaeological Unit, under the leadership of John Williams, carried out a programme of excavation work within the Borough of Northampton during a period that saw significant growth of the town, with the creation of new suburbs to the east of the town, and much development within the town centre itself. 

A decision was made to focus on the south-western quarter of the town centre, in order to explore the pre-Conquest origins of the town.  This policy produced spectacular results, with the discovery of the Middle Anglo-Saxon timber hall, and the succeeding stone hall, forming a major ecclesiastical/secular complex (a Minster?) to the east of St Peter's church and west of the demolished church of St Gregory, both of which also had pre-Conquest origins.

The new suburbs to the south-west of the town, Briar Hill, were the location of an extensive investigation of a Neolithic causewayed enclosure, with activity continuing into the Middle Bronze Age.  To the east and north-east, there was the excavation of two Iron Age settlements early in the life of the NDC.  Other excavations by the NDC appear in the county journal, Northamptonshire Archaeology.  They also produced two popular booklets presenting an overview of their work to the public, in 1979 and 1982.

Williams, J H, (ed) 1974 Two Iron Age Sites in Northampton, NDC Archaeological Monog, 1
Williams, J H, 1979 St Peter's Street, Northampton, Excavations 1973-1976, NDC Archaeological Monog, 2
Bamford, H M, 1985 Briar Hill, Excavation 1974-1978, NDC Archaeological Monog, 3
Williams, J H, Shaw, M, and Denham, V, 1985 Middle Saxon Palaces at Northampton, NDC Archaeological Monog, 4
Williams, J H, and Bamford, H, 1979 Northampton - The first 6000 years, Northampton Development Corporation
Williams, J H, 1982 Saxon and Medieval Northampton, Northampton Development Corporation

Northampton's only extant (if somewhat damaged) prehistoric earthwork, the Iron Age hillfort on Hunsbury Hill, has been the subject of investigations from the late 19th century onward, when much of its interior was removed by ironstone quarrying.  The site and the large assemblage of finds recovered from it in the 19th century make it still relevant to local and national studies of the Iron Age today.
Dryden, H E L, 1885 Hunsbury or Danes Camp and the Discoveries there, Associated Architectural Societies Reports and Papers, XVIII, 1
George, T J, 1917 Early man in Northamptonshire with reference to the Late Celtic Period as illustrated by Hunsbury Camp, Northamptonshire Natural History Society and Field Club, 149, XIX
Other papers:
Fell, C I, 1936 The Hunsbury hill-fort, Northants, A new survey of the material, Archaeological Journal, 93, 57 - 100
This important review of the finds may be obtained through the publishers of the Archaeological Journal
(Link: dx.doi.org/10.1080/00665983.1936.10853661)

Northampton Castle

Once Part 2 of the report on Northampton Castle, by Andy Chapman, has been published, a range of complementary digital documents will be uploaded to these Archaeological Resources.