Initially an evaluation was carried out consisting of the excavation of twelve trenches. Two of the trenches, 3 and 4, were located in an area where Japanese Knotweed was growing on a mound of mine spoil, and could not be excavated. Instead a watching brief was carried out during the removal of the mound and the Knotweed. Following the results of the evaluation and watching brief it was determined that two areas required mitigation. A strip, map and record excavation (SMRE) was carried out in the north of the site, over the remains of the boiler and engine house of Charlton Colliery. A second SMRE was carried out over a block of four workers houses just off Wharton Lane, the former School Street and Johnson Street. Following the stripping and recording of the block of house an open day was hosted allowing interested local parties to view the remains, ask questions about the archaeology and share memories of the site Two strip, map and record excavations (SMRE) were carried out. The first, over the former Charlton Colliery site, revealed well preserved remains of the boiler house, flues and winding engine house. The building appeared to have been re-modelled from an earlier boiler and winding engine house, in order to accommodate the winding plant for a shaft sunk around 1880 to exploit the deep Cannel Seam, following exhaustion of the earlier Trencherbone Seam. The second SMRE was carried out over three of the School Street houses. It revealed remains of the double depth houses with some evidence of hearths and domestic boilers. It also revealed that the dividing walls for the front entrance passage and the rear yards were built from upright stone slabs, a tradition more usually associated with rural Oldham and Bury.
Graham Mottershead (Wed,) studied this question.