Archaeological evaluation report : Cuerden Strategic Site, South Ribble, Lancashire

Cook, OE; Radford, AS

Abstract

Lancashire County Council and Maple Grove Development Limited have obtained
planning consent for a major mixed-use development at Cuerden, in the Central
Lancashire borough of South Ribble. The study area extends to 65 hectares and
comprises land to the south of the M65, to the west of A49 Wigan Road, and east of
Stanifield Lane, near Cuerden in Lancashire (centred on NGR SD 55526 24603). The
hybrid planning application (Planning Ref: 07/2017/0211/ORM) comprises a wide
range of residential and commercial premises, car parks and roads, the construction of
which is likely to cause damage to any surviving archaeological remains.
The potential for archaeological remains to survive across the development site was
highlighted in an archaeological assessment that was prepared to support the planning
application. This concluded that intrusive site investigation to establish the presence
or absence of archaeological remains was merited. In the light of this conclusion,
Lancashire County Council commissioned Salford Archaeology to devise an execute
an appropriate programme of archaeological investigation which, in the first instance,
comprised the excavation of 15 evaluation trenches that aimed to establish the
presence, extent and nature or any below-ground remains, to enable informed
recommendations to be made for the future of any surviving features.
The trenches were targeted on a medieval/post-medieval farmstead, and a range of
cropmarks indicative of earlier field-systems and occupation, perhaps of prehistoric
origin. In addition, the two putative routes of a Roman road between the fort at Wigan
and the industrial settlement at Walton-le-Dale are projected along the western and
eastern edges of the site, and these courses were targeted by evaluation trenches.
The results obtained from the evaluation have demonstrated the survival of a suite of
structural remains relating to the medieval/post-medieval farmstead, together with
several negative features of post-medieval date. The trenching of known or suspected
cropmarks also produced positive results. The presence of ditches and gullies attest to
ancient field systems, which diverge from the existing pattern of field boundaries.
Such features appear on the basis of their typology and stratigraphy to pre-date the
medieval/post-medieval enclosures and, significantly, may potentially represent
prehistoric activity or settlement in the area.
It is not considered that any of these remains are of national importance that would
necessitate preservation in-situ, although the features encountered during the
evaluation are considered to be of high local/borough or regional significance,
particularly those features of potential prehistoric origin. In order to offset the harm of
development on the archaeological resource of the site, it would be appropriate to
implement a further stage of intrusive archaeological excavation in advance of
development.

Citation

Cook, O., & Radford, A. (2018). Archaeological evaluation report : Cuerden Strategic Site, South Ribble, Lancashire

• Report Type: Project Report
• Publication Date: Mar 1, 2018
• Deposit Date: Feb 19, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 19, 2020
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.17866/rd.salford.11864898
• Additional Information: Access Information : Link above is to research outputs and data for this report