Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment of Land at Cresswellpart Lane, Bradwell, Derbyshire

In April 2003 ARCUS were commissioned by Glentoal Associates to undertake an archaeological desk-based assessment on an area of land adjacent to Cresswellpart Quarry, Bradwell, Derbyshire. The assessment was required inform a planning application for limestone quarrying at the site. The proposal area is located on the outskirts of the historic village of Bradwell, and adjacent to the route of a Roman road, the Batham Gate, part of which is now the route of Cresswellpart Lane. The road linked the spa settlement at Buxton with the forts of Brough and Melandra, and as such was an important route in the Roman period. Several Roman coins have been found in the vicinity of the road. Prehistoric stone tools, an iron spearhead, a linear earthwork and a cist burial, as well as several enclosures, are also within the vicinity of the site. During the post-medieval period, lead mining was a major industry in this area, and workings associated with this are found throughout the parish. Upstanding features within the proposal area include a blocked mine shaft with a surrounding mound of upcast material, a dew pond shown on the 1844 tithe map and since modified, and several small mounds of unknown origin adjacent to the southern wall of the site. The field appears to have been cleared and improved at some point in the past, possibly during the nineteenth century. This may have obscured or removed upstanding traces of previous features.