Monkston Park (BU-MOK02)

Clients: English Partnerships

Author: Elizabeth Howe

Site supervisor: Simon Davis and Raoul Bull

MoLAS was commissioned to carry out archaeological excavations of three selected areas of the Monkston Park site, following previous evaluations of the site by Albion Archaeology and Northamptonshire Archaeology.

The site at Monkston Park had already produced exciting archaeological artefacts with the discovery of five Bronze Age gold torques and a hoard of Roman coins, which were found when the access roads for the site were constructed. The torques and the pottery vessel in which they were placed are displayed in the British Museum.

Monkston Park is situated to the south of Central Milton Keynes but, although the area around is gradually being built up, the site comprised a rural landscape. The excavated areas represent c one third of the total area of the 30ha site. A team of 12 MoLAS archaeologists plus support staff carried out the excavations over the winter of 2002–03 in, at times, appalling weather conditions. The largest of the three excavated areas was particularly low-lying and, as a result of very heavy rainfall, the area was under water for several weeks. Freezing conditions, which rendered the area inaccessible, exacerbated this. However, the team´s spirits were raised by the presence of songbirds and birds of prey, which flew over the site.

The site had greater survival of archaeological features than was apparent from the evaluations, including two unknown Roman cremation cemeteries. As the areas of excavation were stripped, the archaeological features were recorded using Pen Map, an on-site digital data capture. This allowed site plans to be produced rapidly during the excavations.

Archaeological evidence included several large Roman enclosures dating from the 1st to the 3rd century AD. Dating of the enclosures suggests that the settlement moved from north to south, down to the lower ground during this period. In addition to the enclosures at least one stone building was recorded, along with possible timber framed buildings. Two structures may represent corn driers.

The post-excavation reporting phase is underway and it is anticipated that the results of the excavation will be published either as a MoLAS Studies Paper or in a regional archaeological journal. The site is to be marketed following the successful completion of the archaeological works.

This site report is extracted from MoLAS 2003: annual review