Archaeological evaluation : Vesta Street, New Islington, Ancoats, Manchester

Mottershead, SC

Abstract

In April 2017, Salford Archaeology was commissioned by the Manchester Life Development
Company to undertake an archaeological evaluation of a parcel of land in the New Islington
area of Ancoats, Manchester (centred on NGR 385370 398310). The evaluation was required
to determine the presence, extent, depth, state of preservation and significance of the
archaeological resource of the proposed development area to enable informed
recommendations to be made regarding the future treatment of any surviving remains.
The archaeological interest in the site was highlighted in a desk-based assessment that was
produced by Arup to support the planning application for the proposed development. This
concluded that the site has high potential to contain buried remains of an iron foundry that
was occupied in the mid-19
th
century by the eminent engineer William Fairbairn, together
with a late 19
th
- or early 20
th
-century textile mill.
The archaeological evaluation comprised the excavation of a single trench, which was placed
along the footprint of the mid-19
th
-century iron foundry, and part of the later textile mill.
Whilst the evaluation revealed that north-western part of the site had been subject to
considerable disturbance in the late 20
th
century, with the resultant loss of all buried remains,
significant structural elements of the former iron foundry and textile mill were revealed
across the south-eastern part of the trench.
Following consultation with the Greater Manchester Archaeological Advisory Service, it is
concluded that further archaeological investigation of the site is merited in advance of the
groundworks required by the proposed development. This further investigation should
comprise an open-area excavation, targeted on those elements of the mid-19th
century iron
foundry that survive in-situ, together with the steam-power plant for the later textile mill

Citation

Mottershead, S. (2017). Archaeological evaluation : Vesta Street, New Islington, Ancoats, Manchester

• Report Type: Technical Report
• Publication Date: May 1, 2017
• Deposit Date: Jan 16, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 16, 2020
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.17866/rd.salford.11627490.v1
• Additional Information: Access Information : Link above is to research outputs and data