A619 Brimington to Staveley Bypass, Derbyshire. Environmental Assessment Stage II, Archaeology Report.

This document comprises a Stage II Archaeology Report in respect of a proposed Derbyshire County Council scheme to construct a highway between the A619 Tapton roundabout, and the M1 (Junction 30) at Barlborough. The report was prepared in four stages: 1. Archaeological Field Evaluation (AFE). 2. Full evaluation of the archaeological interest of the study area. 3. Assessment of the potential impact of the route options on the archaeology of the study area. 4. Assessment of possible mitigation measures. The AFE was undertaken in four areas: A. Stavely Mill - Prospection by means of machine-assisted trial trenching. B. Staveley/Barlborough parish boundary - Prospection by means of machine-assisted trial trenching. C. Chesterfield Canal - Prospection by means of machine-assisted trial trenching, a topographical survey and Building surveys of 5 structures. D. The eastern section of the study area (Stavely to M1 Junction 30) - assessment by fieldwalking. A mill was standing on the site of Stavely Mill until as recently as c 1959. The remains of this building were revealed by a machine-cut trench. It is assumed that a mill wheel was positioned on the western side of the mill. A break in the southern wall, facing the flow of the river, may be an opening for a race to serve such a wheel. Field evaluation has demonstrated that there was also a mill wheel with an associated mill race operating on the eastern side of the mill. This appears to be a later addition to the mill. There is no evidence for an earlier medieval mill on the site. The area surrounding the mill has been much disturbed by recent dumping and earthmoving. This has radically altered the appearance of the land between the River Rother and the former Chesterfield Canal, and is likely to hinder further archaeological prospection. The survey of The results of the evaluation of the Staveley/Barlborough parish boundary show that the present embankment of the parish boundary is almost certainly of recent deposits. This is indicated by the stratigraphy exposed by excavation and auger-sampling, and also by the inclusion of a fragment of post-medieval glass in the embankment deposit. There was also no evidence that the boundary had been accompanied by a ditch, either by direct excavation, or by supplementary auger sampling. Inspection of the field to the west of the boundary, showed that subsequent ploughing had removed the thin topsoil and was now eroding the clay subsoil. This was inspected for any signs of a former ditch, on this side of the boundary, which may have manifested itself in the form of soil marks: no such evidence was forthcoming. Of the structures survey during the building recording sites Cii and Cv are of lesser archaeological importance than the remaining three surveyed sites. The canal-side portion of Site Cii has not survived, and its value as an industrial antiquity is therefore especially limited. This feature is unlikely to demand further evaluation. Hollingwood Lock (Site Ciii) and its associated Cottage (Civ) represent a more important industrial heritage resource. The Hollingwood Lock is not an original feature of the canal, but was built when the canal was diverted during construction of the railway in c 1890. Nevertheless, canal locks are a diminishing heritage resource, and the Hollingwood example is particularly well preserved. It was only very recently restored to working condition. The associated cottage forms part of the Hollingwood Lock complex, and may be viewed as an integral component of the latter. It is typical of late Victorian utilitarian domestic architecture and is not an unusual nor rare specimen. Its interest lies in its association with the Hollingwood Lock-keeping, although no external signs of this former function survive. Mill Green Bridge (Site C vi) was the most important of the sites surveyed.