Low Wood Bay Resort and Spa, Ambleside Road, Windermere, Cumbria: Archaeological Evaluation

Following the submission of a planning application for the creation of four suites with external terraces, as well as associated landscaping at Low Wood Bay Resort and Spa, Ambleside Road, Windermere, Cumbria, and after an appeal, a condition was put in place for an archaeological evaluation. Greenlane Archaeology was commissioned to carry out the evaluation, which was intended specifically to target features of potential archaeological interest identified in an earlier geophysical survey carried out in 2015. It also followed on from a heritage statement completed in 2022. The archaeological evaluation was carried out in August 2025. In the area around the north end of Windermere we find evidence for human activity from the Mesolithic period onwards, with particular concentrations around Ambleside, where there is also a Roman fort and associated settlement. In the immediate vicinity of Low Wood Hotel there is evidence for medieval settlement and the hotel itself seems to have origins in the early 18th century before becoming an inn by at least the end of the 18th century. It was one of the principal locations serving the growing number of tourists from this date onwards, and saw a major phase of rebuilding in the mid-19th century, which produced much of the building that remains today. The evaluation was carried out in an area of overgrown ground on the edge of open fields, where the geophysical survey had identified a range of anomalies, some of which may relate to an earlier, potentially medieval, settlement in the area. It is also apparent that the general area of the proposed development has been subject to small-scale quarrying, probably in the post-medieval period. The evaluation comprised four trenches, Trenches 1 and 2 on the north side of the proposed development area, targeting linear features revealed in the geophysical survey, while Trenches 3 and 4 targeted less well-defined features. In Trench 1 a clear linear feature was revealed, although it was not well-aligned with the geophysical anomaly; finds recovered from it show it to be clearly post-medieval. Trench 2 contained a shallow oval pit, which could not be dated, but perhaps relates to the linear feature shown in the geophysical survey. Trenches 3 and 4 did not contain any features of archaeological interest, although a slightly thicker stony deposit in Trench 3 perhaps represents quarry spoil. Only a small number of finds were recovered, all of which were post-medieval in date. It is likely that in the linear feature in Trench 1 and possibly also the small pit in Trench 2 represent former field boundaries, suggesting that the area, which is shown as a single large field in the historic mapping of the 19th century and later, was sub-divided. The finds recovered from the feature in Trench 1 indicate that it was backfilled by the 19th century. The stony deposit in Trench 3 probably represents spoil from the nearby quarry or quarries. No significant remains were encountered, although it is likely that the geophysical anomalies revealed further north represent part of a wider field system extending across the area.