Arcahaeological Desk-Based Assessment of Land at Bamford, Derbyshire

In September 2005, ARCUS were commissioned by Severn Trent Water to undertake an archaeological desk-based assessment of land at Bamford, Derbyshire (centred on (SK 209 828). The assessment was requested in relation to initial investigations associated with the construction of a new access route from Station Road to Bamford Water Treatment Works and comprised a survey, along with documentary and cartographic research. The desk-based assessment revealed that the proposal area does not contain any previously known sites or find-spots of significant archaeological interest. However, previously unrecorded stonework at the south-east of the site appears to correspond with a structure shown at this location on Bamfords late eighteenth-century manorial map and 1842 tithe plan. A number of archaeological sites and find-spots lie within 1km of the proposal area. These include prehistoric finds such as a Late Upper Palaeolithic Creswellian-type scraper, and two enclosures that were located via aerial photography. A medieval river crossing was recorded at Mytham Bridge to the south- west, while ornately-carved stone gate piers at Joan Lane were formerly located at the late seventeenth-century Derwent Hall. Bamford Mill to the north-west is a late eighteenth-century cotton mill located on the site of earlier corn and fulling mills, while the Church of St. John the Baptist is a mid-nineteenth-century structure designed by the noted architect William Butterfield, and is now a Grade II* listed building. Documentary and cartographic sources indicate that the site has been used as arable, pasture and farmland from at least the late eighteenth century and with the exception of single structures at the Joan Lane frontage and the north-west Station Road frontage, the land remained undeveloped until the construction of domestic housing along the north side of Saltergate Lane during the first half of the twentieth century. No standing features of immediate archaeological potential were observed within the proposal area during the site visit, with the exception of the possible eighteenth-century stonework walling along the Joan Lane perimeter. Several current field boundaries and ditches accord with those depicted on eighteenth- and nineteenth-century maps and appear to be the sites only other pre-twentieth-century features. The desk-based assessment indicated that no intrusive archaeological investigations or detailed surveys have been conducted within the proposal area and knowledge of the sites potential buried archaeology is currently minimal. The lack of known archaeological sites and find-spots in the immediate area, coupled with the apparently undeveloped nature of the majority of the site itself, suggests that for the majority of the site the archaeological potential for surviving sub-surface deposits is low to moderate, although previously unknown deposits cannot be discounted. The archaeological potential relating to the eighteenth-century stone feature is deemed to be very good. Further archaeological evaluation would be required to establish the extent and condition of any surviving archaeological deposits.