The Meaford Energy 6.4.7 Volume 4: Environmental Statement Appendix 12.1: Planning Act 2008 PINS Reference Number: Document Reference Number: Lead Author: Atkins Revision: Date: MEAFORD ENERGY CENTRE ENVIRONMENTAL STATEMENT Appendix 12.1 u Historic Environment Baseline Report INTRODUCTION Purpose of the report 12.1.1 Meaford Energy Limited (MEL) is developing a Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) power station (the Meaford Energy Centre - (MEC) referred to as the Scheme) to be located at a site (the MEC Site) within the Meaford Business Park (MBP) in Staffordshire. The MBP Site was previously occupied by the Former Meaford 'A' and Meaford 'B' power stations until their decommissioning in the 1980s and 1990s respectively. This report outlines the baseline with regard to the historic environment resource in relation to the Scheme, and forms a technical appendix supporting Chapter 12 of the Environment Statement (ES). 12.1.2 The baseline information presented in this report was prepared at the PEIR stage which, at the time, considered the PEIR boundary which is a larger area in some places than the Order Limits, which delineates the boundary of maximum development footprint of the Scheme (within the ‘Site’)MEC Site. Distances have however been updated since this time and are recorded to the Order Limits. Site Location and Description 12.1.3 The Scheme is located on the MBP, off Meaford Road in Staffordshire, and lies in an area of largely flat ground at approximately 99 m Above Ordnance Datum (AOD) immediately to the east of the existing Barlaston substation, approximately 500 m south of Barlaston village, and 600m north of the market town of Stone. The MEC Site is broadly centred at National Grid Reference (NGR) 388970, 336610. 12.1.4 The Order Limits are mostly situated within the limits of the MBP Site, which is located in a predominantly rural setting and is generally surrounded by open fields. The River Trent is present along its western boundary, while the Trent and Mersey Canal follows the eastern boundary of the MBP Site; beyond the latter lies the London to Manchester (West Coast Main Line) railway line. The MBP Site is largely bounded by trees. To the south, lies Washdale Lane and to the north, open fields. The majority of the MBP Site is currently vacant, with most former buildings demolished and only roads and foundations remaining. The MBP Site is adjacent to but not within the floodplain of the River Trent. 12.1.5 Geological mapping indicates that the MBP Site lies on superficial Glacial Till deposits which overlie the solid geology of the Keele Formation (now called the Halesowen Formation - siltstone, mudstone and sandstone) (see below). The majority of the MBP Site is covered by substantial deposits of made ground. 1 METHODOLOGY 12.1.6 This report has been produced to gain an understanding of the historic environment of the MEC Site and surrounding area and to examine the potential for heritage assets and unknown archaeological remains to exist within any future construction footprint, and for the likelihood of the setting of the heritage assets and the historic landscape character to be altered by the Scheme. The historic environment comprises archaeological and built heritage assets, as well as the historic landscape character around the MEC Site. 12.1.7 Different study areas for the various aspects of the historic environment were used for this assessment as follows: • 1 km around the larger PEIR boundary for the assessment of archaeological potential. This was widened after an initial 500 m search radius produced too few results to allow for a meaningful contextual assessment; • 1.5 km around the PEIR boundary with regard to designated heritage assets; and • 3 km around the PEIR boundary in respect of the historic landscape and long- view settings of high-grade designated heritage assets. The extent of this study area was determined in liaison with the Scheme Landscape and Visual Assessment (LVIA) team, and reflects its visually restricted landscape situation in a broad river valley. 12.1.8 Data sources have been examined to determine details of any World Heritage Sites, Scheduled Monuments, Listed Buildings, Historic Parks and Gardens, Registered Battlefields and Conservation Areas, non-designated heritage assets and archaeological findspots, and past archaeological investigations in relation to the study areas indicated. Sources reviewed in May 2014 for this included: • Staffordshire Historic Environment Record (SHER); • National Heritage List for England maintained by English Heritage; • Historic Ordnance Survey maps; • Historic Landscape Characterisation data; • Geo-environmental information; • Relevant secondary sources to inform the archaeological and historic background of the assessment; 12.1.9 A site visit was also undertaken with MEL's LVIA team. 2 MEAFORD ENERGY CENTRE ENVIRONMENTAL STATEMENT 12.1.10 As a ‘brownfield’ site of little archaeological potential, it was decided that aerial photographic mapping of the previously developed land was not a relevant data source in the archaeological assessment of the Scheme. 12.1.11 Gazetteers of known sites for each study area are set out below, and illustrated on Figures 12.1 and 12.2. All records have been accorded a unique Atkins Heritage (AH) gazetteer number. ARCHAEOLOGY AND HISTORIC BACKGROUND 12.1.12 The MEC Site lie within the valley of the River Trent, and, as elsewhere in that valley, the wider surroundings are characterised by many prehistoric sites including henge, cursus monuments and barrow cemeteries from the earlier prehistoric periods, and monuments, such as hillforts, from the later part of prehistory. The nearest example of this latter site type is Bury Bank Scheduled Monument (AH1) which lies approximately 480m south west from the Order Limits. 12.1.13 A Historic Environment Assessment for the area around Stone undertaken by Staffordshire County Council (2008) as part of the Historic Landscape Characterisation process notes an archaeological potential for prehistoric sites to survive masked by alluvial deposits along the valley floor to the southeast and northwest of Stone. 12.1.14 Settlements and estates in the wider surroundings of the MEC Site, such as Stone, Barlaston, Meaford, and Darlaston, generally date back to early medieval times. The largest of these is Stone, a market town of Anglo-Saxon origin. Stone saw some destruction by invading Danes in the 9th century, and is later mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1085. 12.1.15 Documentary evidence also attests settlement at Meaford from at least the late Anglo-Saxon period (AH25). It is considered that the estate was founded in the 8th century and acquired by William Jervis of Chatcull in the late 17th century. It remained the seat of the Jervis family for almost 250 years. Meaford Hall was much extended and modernised in the late 19th century but was sold in 1943. Following a period of disuse and neglect the Hall was restored by a new owner, but to a reduced size, and was reopened in 1997. The village, which sits immediately adjacent to the A34, was built by Lady Mary Forrester of Meaford Hall in the later nineteenth century to house workers on the Meaford estate. 12.1.16 The Trent and Mersey Canal was built to link the River Trent at Derwent Mouth (in Derbyshire) to the River Mersey. It was authorised by an Act of Parliament in 1766. In 1777, the Canal was completed, including more than 70 locks and five tunnels, with the company headquarters in Stone. The Canal led directly to the development of the area subsequently known as the Potteries. Traffic was heavy and freight movement was still considerable into the 1960s, with cargoes including coal, salt, beer, and, of course, pottery. Since the decline of the regional ceramic 3 industries and the rise of alternative modes of transport in more recent decades, the use of the canal has been mostly limited to leisure purposes. 12.1.17 From the late 1950s until the late 1990s the MBP Site was under industrial use by the Former Meaford 'A' and 'B' power stations and its associated infrastructure. HISTORIC ENVIRONMENTAL BASELINE 12.1.18 Details of all heritage assets and findspots discussed here and their significance in local, regional, and national terms are contained in the gazetteer of Designated and Non-Designated Assets (see below), and illustrated in Figures 12.1 and 12.2. Designated Heritage Assets (1.5 km) 12.1.19 There are two Scheduled Monuments in the 1.5 km study area. Bury Bank Iron Age hillfort (also called ‘the Rings’, AH1) lies approximately 480m south west of the Order Limits. The earthwork remains of two barrows are situated on the hillfort and these are included in the Scheduling. Saxon’s Low/Hangman’s Low at Tittensor Common (AH2), a further Scheduled Monument, lies approximately 1.2 km west of the Order Limits. This is a large mound previously interpreted as either a barrow or a motte, but which is now considered to be a natural feature. 12.1.20 There are 16 listed buildings within this study area (AH3-17, AH55). Of these, two are Grade II* listed: Meaford Hall (AH3) approximately 475m from the Order Limits, and its associated Nursery House (AH4), approximately 500m from the Order Limits. 12.1.21 The remaining buildings are Grade II listed, and include stables at Meaford Hall (AH5), and two farmhouses (AH10, AH11); residential houses (AH6, AH7, AH8, AH13, AH17); a gate-keeper's cottage built for the North Staffordshire Railway; Norton Bridge (AH9), and several bridges across the Trent and Mersey Canal (Turnover Bridge, AH12; Meaford Hall Farm Bridge (AH15); Sidall’s Bridge (AH16); a canal mile post (AH14); and a cemetery chapel at Barlaston (AH55). 12.1.22 There are three Conservation Areas in the 1.5 km study area, Meaford (AH18), the Trent and Mersey Canal (AH19) and Stone (AH55).