Archaeological evaluation : Oldfield Road, Salford

Mottershead, SC; Cook, OE

Abstract

Salford Archaeology was commissioned by Muse Developments to undertake an
archaeological evaluation of land on Oldfield Rd (centred on NGR: SJ82573 98439),
currently being developed as part of Salford’s regeneration scheme. This report
consists of the results of three evaluation trenches excavated in December 2016.
An archaeological assessment completed earlier in the year demonstrated the study
area had potential for late 18th - 19th buildings, including housing, a public house and
the western end of an industrial complex: Islington Mill. No earlier archaeological
remains were anticipated given the later development of the site, particularly in the
southern part of the site, which was recently occupied by a hostel and leisure complex
with deep footings. The accidental loss of a large portion of the cellared housing in
the northern part of the site through groundwork restricted potential to a narrow strip,
in the middle of the study area.
The trenches in the study area confirmed the western limit of the southern wall of late
18th - 19th century mill, which was located to the east of the study area. The trench
closest to Oldfield Rd, revealed a series of walls of a cellared building with a partially
surviving flagstone floor. This was likely part of the public house, the Jollies. The
trench located in the middle part of the site revealed a single brick pad and linear
gulley feature, cut into the natural clay. Together these archaeological remains
confirm 19th century domestic and industrial activity. The natural clay was observed
at approximately 1.5m below the existing ground levels at the south-east side of the
site and at 1.9m depth towards the north-west. No earlier archaeological remains were
encountered.
The results obtained from the evaluation trenches have indicated that no remains of
archaeological significance survive within the study area and that no further
archaeological work is required.

Citation

Mottershead, S., & Cook, O. (2017). Archaeological evaluation : Oldfield Road, Salford

• Report Type: Technical Report
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2017
• Deposit Date: Jan 15, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 15, 2020
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.17866/rd.salford.11618625.v1
• Additional Information: Access Information : Link above directs to the data gathered during the project the report relates to