Harrold before 1086

D.N.Hall carried out fieldwork in Harrold towards the end of the 20th century - his findings being published in Bedfordshire Archaeological Journal volumes 3 (1966) and 7 (1972). A number of excavations have also been conducted in the parish.

Site of prehistoric settlement at entrance to Hall Close - June 2008

Prehistory

A palaeolithic| flake was found in the parish. A site just east of the village in Odell parish revealed possible mesolithic| or neolithic| origins. A site west of Odell Road and north of Meadway was dug between 1951 and 1953 and in 1998 [National Monument No.346787] and has revealed a number of prehistoric features including a Bronze Age| round barrow cemetery with cremation and inhumation burials and an Iron Age| settlement with domestic round houses and a crouched burial. This site also extends south-eastwards over the parish boundary into Odell.

Another Bronze Age site [National Monument No.346795] lay on the north-west side of Peach's Close and consisted of a ditch forming part of an enclosure. Another Iron Age site [National Monument No.346788] lay just east of Carlton Road opposite the entrance to Hall Close and consisted of a pit associated with a settlement. The pit contained 1st century BC pottery, a quern and a butt beaker dated between 10 and 43 AD.

In 2005 a series of possible late prehistoric enclosures were found by aerial photography just south of Middle Farm [National Monument No.1459440]. Romano-British pottery has been found in this area [National Monument No.346854]. A ring ditch has also been identified near the river east of Harrold Lodge Farm [National Monument No.346867].

A strange Iron Age feature known, due to its shape, as a banjo enclosure, has been identified as a crop-mark just north of Coldharbour Hill, south-west of Manor Farm.

Dungee Farm in June 2008

Roman Occupation

The two sites noted above west of Odell Road, north of Meadway and east of Carlton Road opposite Hall Close also yielded Romano-British pottery showing that habitation continued into the Roman period. These sites were probably associated with the Romano-British farmstead site in Odell, now under the waters of the lake in Harrold-Odell Country Park and excavated by Brian Dix in the 1970s. This site was occupied through the Roman period until the middle of the 4th century AD.

Roman coins, an inscribed oculist stamp and pottery have been found at a spot west of Wood Road [National Monument No.346844]. Slag deposits, indicating iron smelting, have been found south-west of The Slipe near the boundary with Bozeat associated with Romano-British pottery [National Monument No.346856] and similar sites have been found north-west of Dungee Farm| [National Monument No.346859] and on the north side of Park Wood [National Monument No.346861].

Romano-British habitation sites have been identified south-west of Dungee Wood close to the Bozeat boundary [National Monument No.346863], north of Lavendon Wood [National Monument No.346870] and south-west of Grange Farm near Park Wood, this including herringbone walling indicating a Roman building associated with a scatter of pottery and tile fragments [National Monument No.346874]

Folly in June 2008

Dark Ages

The large site occupied during prehistory west of Odell Road and north of Meadway, in the vicinity of Folly was also occupied in the post-Roman period. A number of huts of the type called a grubenhaus were found as well as a cemetery dating to the late 7th or early 8th century. The cemetery consisted of thirteen skeletons. One of them was considered to be a Viking burial due to its associated grave goods, if so it is the only evidence for Vikings in the parish. Finds associated with one of the grubenhausen suggest the settlement may have had roots in the 6th or even 5th centuries, hinting at some sort of continuity back through the Roman period and into prehistory.