An archaeological watching brief was undertaken at 1-7a, Cleveland Street, Wolverhampton (NGR: SO 91333 98395). The project comprised the monitoring of demolition of the existing building footings and piles. It was commissioned by Place Change Ltd on behalf of City of Wolverhampton Council, in advance of site remediation. Planning permission has been granted subject to a programme of archaeological investigations. This watching brief monitored and recorded the remedial ground works associated with the demolition of the 1960s buildings that had recently occupied the site. This involved the removal of the concrete slab and trenching to demolish concrete piles and footings, as well as to investigate live services. In total, twenty-one trenches were excavated, revealing well-preserved brick walls and surfaces associated with the Cleveland Works, a lock and safe manufactory known to have existed on the site from the middle of the 19th century until the middle of the 20 th century. These structural elements were present underneath a 0.5m thick layer of demolition and levelling material, and themselves lay above or cut into a thick series of made ground deposits that formed a terrace over the naturally sloping ground. In places this was at least 1.8m deep, with natural ground not observed at any point. Most of the archaeological remains consisted of low standing walls and internal and external brick surfaces, offering little in the way of function. The exception to this were the remains of a flue in the western part of the site. It was built partially from yellow fire bricks, and was associated with a possible coal store.
Pete Lovett (Sun,) studied this question.