Archaeological Evaluation at The Land To The South Of Shaw Brook Road And North Of Altcar Lane, Leyland

Outline planning permission was granted for residential development in 2017 (Planning Ref: 07/2016/0591/OUT), with a condition for a programme of archaeological work to be undertaken, based upon the results of a desk-based assessment prepared by the University of Salford (CfAA 2016 This scheme for archaeological trial trenching has been designed in order to satisfy the stated objectives of the project. This evaluation comprised the excavation of 19 trenches, including 20m x 1.8m trenches, 30mx 1.8m and 50m x 1.8m trenches. targeting identified heritage assets and 'blank' areas of the site equating to a total of 1,440m2. Archaeological features were sampled sufficiently to characterise, date them and determine their significance i.e. 10% of fills of linear features and 50% of pit fills. Smaller discrete features such as postholes will be 100% sampled. Structural features of buildings/structures of archaeological interest were identified, and were cleaned, photographed and recorded in-situ, with sample excavation undertaken as necessary in order to determine their form, construction methods and dating. Archaeological excavation (CLL-B) was required as a condition of planning consent, to further investigate archaeological features found through the archaeological evaluation conducted by WA (2022).The archaeological work was undertaken over fourteen days between the 1st of August and the 17th August 2023 and comprised the excavation of two areas. Area 32 measured 30m by 40m and expanded upon previous evaluation trench 32, Area 37 measured 40m by 40m with an additional 10m by 10m extension added to the north-western corner. The investigation revealed several pits in Area 37 of pits in the vicinity of those discovered in trench 37, as well as an additional cluster of larger pits to the north, A possible hearth was observed to contain frequent flecks of charcoal which have been radiocarbon dated to 4944�24 BP, or Mid-Late Neolithic. Furthermore, it was established that the pit observed in trench 32 was an isolated feature, no further archaeology was present in vicinity of the pit. The archaeological work was undertaken over nine days between the 13th and 23rd June 2022 and comprised the excavation of 18 trenches across two investigation areas. The investigation revealed a cluster of pits within Trench 37, and a pit within Trench 32. A single hazel nutshell was recovered from the pit in Trench 32 which was radiocarbon dated to cal. 46BC-AD76 placing it in the Late Iron Age/ Early Romano British period (Laboratory Identification: UBA-49548 (Appendix 3)). Although there is no dating evidence from the cluster of pits within Trench 37 their form would suggest that they are also from the Late Iron Age/ Early Romano period. A boundary ditch was recorded on a north-south alignment ditch within Trench 40, and on an east-west alignment within Trenches 35 and 36, both of which had been previously identified as post-medieval field boundaries observed during the previous geophysical survey. Two large marl pits were observed within Trenches 34 and 35. Both had been backfilled with material dated to the 19th - 20th century. Trenches 24 and 25 targeted the former footprint of Green Hill Farm, although thick vegetation bounding Shaw Brook precluded detailed investigation. The trenches revealed structural remains in the form of wall footings, though much of the structure had been demolished and remediated to below ground level. During the archaeological excavation at land south of Shaw Brook Road, Leyland (Coulthurst land), two open area excavations were opened over two fields, encompassing 180m2 of the proposed development areas. The purpose of the excavation was to establish the extent and preservation of archaeological features recorded in the previous phase of archaeological trial trenching undertaken by Wardell Armstrong during 2022.