Archaeological desk-based assessment report : Toad Lane, Lower Falinge, Rochdale Miller, IF 2016/23 Title Archaeological desk-based assessment report : Toad Lane, Lower Falinge, Rochdale Authors Miller, IF Type Monograph URL This version is available at: http://usir.salford.ac.uk/id/eprint/56217/ Published Date 2016 USIR is a digital collection of the research output of the University of Salford. Where copyright permits, full text material held in the repository is made freely available online and can be read, downloaded and copied for non-commercial private study or research purposes. Please check the manuscript for any further copyright restrictions. For more information, including our policy and submission procedure, please contact the Repository Team at: [email protected]. Archaeological Desk- Based Assessment Report Toad Lane, Lower Falinge, Rochdale Client: Rochdale Boroughwide Housing Ltd Technical Report: Ian Miller Report No: 2016/23 © CfAA: Desk-based Assessment: Toad Lane, Lower Falinge, Rochdale Site Location: The study area lies between Smith Street, John Street, Constantine Road and the Wheatsheaf Centre in Rochdale town centre, Greater Manchester NGR: Centred at NGR 389485 413830 Internal Ref: CfAA/2016/23 Prepared for: Rochdale Boroughwide Housing Ltd Document Title: Archaeological Desk-based Assessment: Toad Lane, Lower Falinge, Rochdale Document Type: Desk-based Assessment Version: Version 1.1 Author: Ian Miller BA FSA Position: Assistant Director Date: June 2016 Signed: Approved by: Adam J Thompson BA Hons, MA Position: Director of Archaeology Date: June 2016 Signed: Copyright: Copyright for this document remains with the Centre for Applied Archaeology, University of Salford. Contact: Salford Archaeology, Centre for Applied Archaeology, Peel Building, University of Salford, Salford, M5 4WT Telephone: 0161 295 4467 Email: [email protected] Disclaimer: This document has been prepared by Salford Archaeology within the Centre for Applied Archaeology, University of Salford, for the titled project or named part thereof and should not be used or relied upon for any other project without an independent check being undertaken to assess its suitability and the prior written consent and authority obtained from the Centre for Applied Archaeology. The University of Salford accepts no responsibility or liability for the consequences of this document being used for a purpose other than those for which it was commissioned. Other persons/parties using or relying on this document for other such purposes agrees, and will by such use or reliance be taken to confirm their agreement to indemnify the University of Salford for all loss or damage resulting therefrom. The University of Salford accepts no liability or responsibility for this document to any other party/persons than by whom it was commissioned. © CfAA: Desk-based Assessment: Toad Lane, Lower Falinge, Rochdale Contents Summary 1 1. Introduction 2 2. Methodology Statement 4 3. The Setting 5 4. Archaeological & Historical Background 10 5. Gazetteer of Sites 20 6. Significance of the Remains 26 7. Impact of the Development 30 8. Recommendations for Mitigation 33 9. Conclusion 34 10. Sources 35 11. Acknowledgements 37 Appendix 1: Figures 38 Appendix 2: Heritage Assets within 500m of the Site Area 50 © CfAA: Desk-based Assessment: Toad Lane, Lower Falinge, Rochdale Summary Rochdale Boroughwide Housing Ltd is submitting a planning application for the renewal of housing off Toad Lane in the Lower Falinge area of Rochdale, Greater Manchester (centred on NGR 389485 413830). The development proposals allow for the demolition of two maisonette blocks and a public house that have occupied the site since the 1960s, and the construction of 30 new dwellings with enclosed private garden to the rear. The new homes will be arranged in 11 blocks around a landscaped area, the delivery of which will cumulatively necessitate considerable earth-moving works. In order to inform and support the planning application, Rochdale Boroughwide Housing Ltd commissioned Salford Archaeology to undertake an archaeological desk- based assessment of the proposed development site. This was intended to identify the nature, extent and significance of the below-ground archaeological resource to enable informed recommendations to be made for the future treatment of any surviving buried remains. The site does not contain any heritage assets that are afforded statutory protection and would require preservation in-situ, such as Listed Buildings and Scheduled Monuments, and it does not lie within a conservation area. Desk-based research of the proposed development area, however, has identified 12 sites of potential archaeological interest within the boundary of the site. All of these undesignated heritage assets pertain to nineteenth-century residential use of the site, and are considered to be of local importance. Construction works necessitated by the proposed development will inevitably involve some disturbance to below-ground archaeological remains. Given the perceived local importance of buried remains that may survive in-situ, it would be appropriate to undertake a programme of intrusive investigation of the Site Area via evaluation trenching or a watching brief during earth-moving works associated with the proposed demolition. This should aim to establish the presence or absence, extent and significance of buried archaeological remains in the Site Area, and particularly any physical remains of late eighteenth- or early nineteenth-century workers’ housing in the western part of the proposed development area. This would enable an appropriate strategy to be formulated to mitigate the impact of development on the archaeological resource, in line with the guidance provided by the National Planning Policy Framework and local planning policy. Any such scheme of archaeological investigation should be devised in consultation with the Greater Manchester Archaeological Advisory Service in their capacity as archaeological advisors to Rochdale Borough Council. © CfAA: Desk-based Assessment: Toad Lane, Lower Falinge, Rochdale 1 1. Introduction 1.1 Planning Background Rochdale Boroughwide Housing Ltd is submitting a planning application for the regeneration of the Lower Falinge Estate in Rochdale. The redevelopment proposals allow for the demolition of two maisonette blocks and a public house that currently occupy the site, and the construction of 30 new dwellings with enclosed private garden to the rear. The new homes will form a mix of two-, three- and four-bed affordable houses, and two- and three-bed single storey homes to Lifetime Homes standard. These will be arranged in 11 blocks around a landscaped area. In order to inform and support the planning application, OMI Architects, acting on behalf of Rochdale Boroughwide Housing Ltd, commissioned Salford Archaeology to undertake an archaeological desk-based assessment of the proposed development site (referred to hereafter as the Site Area). The aim of the archaeological assessment was to identify, as far as possible, the nature, extent and significance of the archaeological resource to enable informed recommendations to be made for the future treatment of any surviving remains. 1.2 Government and Local Planning Policies 1.2.1 National Planning Policy Framework The significance of the archaeological resource identified within this report has been assessed as recommended in National Planning Policy Framework (Department for Communities and Local Government, March 2012). The NPPF sets out the Government’s planning policies and outlines the presumption in favour of sustainable development, which is defined by three dimensions: economic; social; and environmental. Of the 12 core planning principles underpinning plan and decision making, conserving ‘heritage assets in a manner appropriate to their significance, so that they can be enjoyed for their contribution to the quality of life of this and future generations’ is one. Section 12 specifically deals with the historic environment (paragraphs 126-41), and local planning authorities should consider: the desirability of sustaining and enhancing the significance of heritage assets and putting them to viable uses consistent with their conservation; the wider, social, cultural, economic and environmental benefits that conservation of the historic environment can bring; the desirability of new development making a positive contribution to local character and distinctiveness; and opportunities to draw on the contribution made by the historic environment to the character of a place. © CfAA: Desk-based Assessment: Toad Lane, Lower Falinge, Rochdale 2 Paragraph 128 states that local planning authorities, when determining applications, should require the applicant to describe the significance of any affected heritage assets. This should be sufficient so as to understand the potential impact on their significance and this should be done using the appropriate expertise where necessary. Paragraph 135 indicates that the effect of a development proposal on non-designated assets (designated assets are covered in paragraphs 132-34) should be taken into account. In addition, Paragraph 141 requires developers to record and advance understanding of heritage assets to be lost, in a manner proportionate to their importance and impact. 1.2.2 Local Development Framework The NPPF outlines the need for local planning authorities to create local plans and frameworks to implement the NPPF at a local level. The future use and development