Land at Moss End Farm (J36), Crooklands, Kendal, Cumbria: Archaeological Evaluation

Following the submission of a planning application for the construction of an industrial unit on land at Moss End Farm (J36), Crooklands, Kendal, Cumbria, Greenlane Archaeology was commissioned to carry out an archaeological desk-based assessment and geophysical survey of the site, which was completed in November 2024. Subsequently, a condition (No. 3) was put in place on the application, requiring an archaeological evaluation. Greenlane Archaeology was commissioned to carry out the evaluation, which was specifically intended to target features of potential archaeological interest identified by the earlier geophysical survey. The fieldwork was carried out in March 2026, following approval of the written scheme of investigation by Westmorland and Furness Council on the 5th February 2026. Maps show the site has comprised open fields since at least the mid-19th century, but the wider area contains evidence for human activity from the prehistoric period onwards. most significant recent change to the local landscape is construction of M6 motorway and more recent construction of a range of industrial units serving J36; archaeological work carried out in association with this discovered an enclosure radiocarbon dated to the Iron Age. The geophysical survey revealed several anomalies of potential archaeological interest within the present proposed development area. The evaluation comprised 15 trenches, each approximately 20m long. A small pit of unknown date and function was recorded in one trench, and sections of a probable continuous stone-filled drain of apparent post-medieval date were exposed in three of the others; this evidently corresponded to an anomaly shown in the geophysical survey. The rest of the trenches did not contain any finds or features of archaeological interest. In all cases deposits overlying the natural glacial clay were very shallow and it seems likely that regular ploughing of the field would have destroyed or degraded any archaeological features or deposits that might have been present.