ARCUS was commissioned by Simpson York Limited to undertake a series of archaeological watching briefs during the renovation of the Round Foundry, Water Lane, Holbeck, Leeds. Redevelopment works at the Round Foundry have taken place in several phases. This phase of works concentrated on the building commonly referred to as the Green Sand Foundry. As part of the renovation works a series of surface water drains were installed across the open yard area to the west of the Green Sand Foundry building. These groundworks were also subject to an archaeological watching brief. The Green Sand Building and the open yard were both elements of the historic core of the Round Foundry. This was established in 1796 by Murray Wood, machine- makers, as a specialist integrated engineering foundry, only the second such foundry to have been built. The complex is significant as the sole survivor of the first generation of such manufactories. The flagg floor within the south pavilion of the Green Sand Foundry was lifted and made ground exposed. There was no evidence of an earlier floor surface, but the made-ground was seen to have a thickness of up to 3m and overlay undisturbed deposits. Auguring in the north pavilion revealed evidence of extensive modification of the buildings in the northeast corner of the site, which was confirmed by documentary evidence. The excavation of new service trenches in the central, open courtyard and along the exterior walls of the Dry Sand Foundry, exposed further made-ground deposits and the preserved remains of demolished structures. Due to the limited scope of the ground works it was almost impossible to identify the complete form and function of any of the structures exposed. It was concluded that the interpretation of these structures will probably be aided by the consideration of the results of the mitigation fieldwork within the Dry Sand Foundry and former south range of buildings.
Sean Bell (Mon,) studied this question.