HRN1 Archaeology dig help tells history of the town

The Houghton Regis North Site 1 covers 630 acres to the North of Houghton Regis.

The scheme is a mixed-use development of up to 5,150 new homes; employment land; 75 hectares of public open space incorporating wildlife corridors, wetland areas, brooks, community gardens and facilities and sports pitches along with 3 primary schools. Works will commence on road construction for the first phase imminently.

Part of the initial preparatory works included several archaeological digs onsite on land adjacent to Sundon Road and South of the Sundon Link. The dig took almost six months to complete and finished at the end of February 2019.

The findings suggest that the earliest settlers in Houghton Regis on the HRN1 site were likely to be from the Bronze Age, indicated by a series of pits and dispersed burials. The majority of the remains found date to Iron Age and Roman Periods, when the area contained a village and a series of farmsteads, which were linked by trackways through the surrounding fields. The presence of a number of Anglo-Saxon buildings were also uncovered and during the medieval period most of the area was open fields associated with nearby villages.

Archaeological remains investigated and recorded included: a Bronze Age burial monument, drying ovens, the footprint of a Roman building, water pits and trackway.

Nigel Reid, Development Director for the project said “several local schools were invited to come and see the archaeological team in action and we were delighted to welcome pupils from Thornhill Primary School, Tithe Farm Primary School and Central Bedfordshire College to view the dig for themselves.”

Once all of the assessment, analysis and publication work is complete all finds will be deposited locally.

More information on the project can be found at www.hrn1.co.uk. If you have any questions on the archaeological dig or any other queries on the project please call 0800 232 1794 or email contact@hrn1.co.uk