An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in the County of Northamptonshire, Volume 2, Archaeological Sites in Central Northamptonshire. Originally published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1979.
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'Orton', in An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in the County of Northamptonshire, Volume 2, Archaeological Sites in Central Northamptonshire( London, 1979), British History Online https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/northants/vol2/p120 [accessed 23 November 2024].
'Orton', in An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in the County of Northamptonshire, Volume 2, Archaeological Sites in Central Northamptonshire( London, 1979), British History Online, accessed November 23, 2024, https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/northants/vol2/p120.
"Orton". An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in the County of Northamptonshire, Volume 2, Archaeological Sites in Central Northamptonshire. (London, 1979), , British History Online. Web. 23 November 2024. https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/northants/vol2/p120.
In this section
46 ORTON
(OS 1:10000 a SP 77 NE, b SP 87 NW, c SP 88 SW)
The parish is small, covering only about 450 hectares. It lies immediately S. of the parish of Rothwell of which it was formerly a part. Long and narrow in shape, it occupies the N.-facing side of a spur, between 100 m. and 150 m. above OD, with the stream known as The Slade forming its N. boundary. The higher ground on the crest of the spur is covered by Boulder Clay, but over the greater part of the parish Northampton Sand and Upper Lias Clay are exposed where the land slopes steeply to The Slade. There is a small area of limestone in the extreme S.W. of the parish.
Prehistoric or Roman
a(1) Enclosure (?) (SP 79107824), in the S.W. of the parish, on Boulder Clay at 146 m. above OD. Air photographs (in NMR) show indistinctly a curving ditch about 10 m. wide which may be the N.E. third of a circular enclosure with an estimated diam. of at least 100 m.
Medieval and Later
A large quantity of 17th and 18th-century material has been noted in the village during building work (SP 806793; Northants. Archaeol., 10 (1975), 173).
b(2) Settlement Remains (SP 802791– 806793), lie between the existing houses of the village on both sides of the main street.
The remains consist of sunken rectangular platforms cut into the rising ground and up to 1 m. deep, set in embanked closes; at the N.E. end of the village opposite the church these have been much damaged by later activity.
(3) Cultivation Remains. The date of the enclosure of the common fields of the parish is not known. Ridge-and-furrow of these fields remains around the village, and extends W. in a strip of fields along the S. boundary of the parish. Without exception the surviving furlongs are arranged end-on, and they are orientated N.N.W.—S.S.E. Much of the parish where ridge-and-furrow is not visible has been worked for ironstone (RAF VAP 541/602, 4189–97; 541/612, 4001–6; F21 540/RAF/1312, 0141–8; F22 540/RAF/ 1312, 0140–6; F22 82/RAF/865, 0315–9; F21 82/ RAF/865, 0414–25).