Wicken

Broadcast 25 February 2007

In July 2006 an archaeological evaluation was undertaken by Channel 4’s ‘Time Team’ in the village of Wicken in Northamptonshire (centred on NGR 474539 239362), to investigate the lost site of the church of St James at Wick Hamon, and to examine the early ‘nucleated’ settlement in the northern half of the village, Wick Dive.

The evaluation was concentrated within two areas of the village and was focused in a field known as The Warren, where a series of earthworks are located, and Home Farm, thought to be the site of St James Church, with further work being carried out in gardens along Cross Tree Road and Leckhamstead Road.

The primary aim of the evaluation was to confirm the exact location of the lost church of St James thus adding to the understanding of the manorial relationships in Wicken and to further evaluate the condition and extent of the early settlement site of Wicken, already under investigation by Richard Jones of University of Leicester.

A series of six trenches and nine test pits were excavated within the village to evaluate the location, extent, character, date, and significance of any underlying archaeology. The archaeological evaluation provided a small but significant contribution to the story of Wicken which, when taken in conjunction with the work of the University of Leicester, will help to provide further insight into the beginnings and subsequent expansion of the village.

It was successful in achieving its aim of pinpointing the lost location of the Church of St James and of piecing together a basic floorplan of the structure from the archaeological remains.

However, little evidence for early settlement was revealed during the evaluation.