FLASS LANE, BARROW-IN- FURNESS, Cumbria
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FLASS LANE, BARROW-IN- FURNESS, Cumbria Archaeological Desk- based Assessment and Evaluation Oxford Archaeology North December 2006 Datum Designs Company Issue No: 2006-07/611 OA North Job No: L9762 NGR: SD 2170 7010 Planning Application No: 6/06/0314 Document Title: FLASS LANE, BARROW-IN-FURNESS, CUMBRIA Document Type: Archaeological Desk-based Assessment and Evaluation Client Name: DATUM DESIGNS COMPANY Issue Number: 2006-07/611 OA Job Number: L9762 National Grid Reference: SD 2170 7010 Prepared by: Kelly Clapperton Position: Supervisor Date: December 2006 Checked by: Emily Mercer Signed……………………. Position: Project Manager Date: December 2006 Approved by: Alan Lupton Signed……………………. Position: Operations Manager Date: December 2006 Oxford Archaeology North © Oxford Archaeological Unit Ltd (2006) Storey Institute Janus House Meeting House Lane Osney Mead Lancaster Oxford LA1 1TF OX2 0EA t: (0044) 01524 848666 t: (0044) 01865 263800 f: (0044) 01524 848606 f: (0044) 01865 793496 w: www.oxfordarch.co.uk e: [email protected] Oxford Archaeological Unit Limited is a Registered Charity No: 285627 Disclaimer: This document has been prepared for the titled project or named part thereof and should not be relied upon or used for any other project without an independent check being carried out as to its suitability and prior written authority of Oxford Archaeology being obtained. Oxford Archaeology accepts no responsibility or liability for the consequences of this document being used for a purpose other than the purposes for which it was commissioned. Any person/party using or relying on the document for such other purposes agrees, and will by such use or reliance be taken to confirm their agreement to indemnify Oxford Archaeology for all loss or damage resulting therefrom. Oxford Archaeology accepts no responsibility or liability for this document to any party other than the person/party by whom it was commissioned. Flass Lane, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria: Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment and Evaluation 1 CONTENTS CONTENTS.......................................................................................................................1 SUMMARY .......................................................................................................................3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...................................................................................................4 1. INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................5 1.1 Circumstances of Project.....................................................................................5 1.2 Location, Topography and Geology ...................................................................5 2. METHODOLOGY.........................................................................................................6 2.1 Project Design .....................................................................................................6 2.2 Desk-Based Assessment......................................................................................6 2.3 Walkover.............................................................................................................6 2.4 Fieldwork ............................................................................................................7 2.5 Environmental Assessment .................................................................................7 2.6 Archive................................................................................................................8 3. DESK-BASED ASSESSMENT RESULTS.........................................................................9 3.1 Historical and Archaeological Background ........................................................9 3.2 Map Regression Analysis..................................................................................11 3.3 Aerial Photographic Analysis ...........................................................................12 3.4 Archaeological Interventions ............................................................................12 3.5 Walkover...........................................................................................................13 4. GAZETTEER OF SITES ..............................................................................................14 5. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE REMAINS .............................................................................16 5.1 Introduction.......................................................................................................16 5.2 Criteria ..............................................................................................................16 5.3 Significance.......................................................................................................17 6. FIELDWORK RESULTS .............................................................................................18 For the use of Datum Design Company © OA North: December 2006 Flass Lane, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria: Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment and Evaluation 2 6.1 Introduction.......................................................................................................18 6.2 Trenching results...............................................................................................18 6.3 Finds..................................................................................................................20 6.4 Environmental Assessment ...............................................................................20 7. CONCLUSION............................................................................................................22 7.1 Discussion .........................................................................................................22 7.2 Impact................................................................................................................23 8. BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................24 8.1 Cartographic Sources ........................................................................................24 8.2 Aerial Photographs............................................................................................24 8.3 Secondary Sources ............................................................................................24 9. ILLUSTRATIONS .......................................................................................................27 9.1 Figures...............................................................................................................27 9.2 Plates .................................................................................................................27 APPENDIX 1: PROJECT BRIEF ......................................................................................28 APPENDIX 2: PROJECT DESIGN....................................................................................29 APPENDIX 3: CONTEXT REGISTER ..............................................................................36 APPENDIX 4: FINDS REGISTER.....................................................................................37 For the use of Datum Design Company © OA North: December 2006 Flass Lane, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria: Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment and Evaluation 3 SUMMARY During October 2006 Oxford Archaeology North (OA North) carried out a desk-based assessment and evaluation trenching at Flass Lane, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria (NGR SD 2170 7010), as requested by Datum Design Company as part of a planning application for a nursing home (planning ref. 6/06/0314). Documentary and cartographic evidence, the earliest mapping dating from the eighteenth century, indicated that little or no significant activity had taken place on the site, and that it had been laid down to farmland. However, it was known to be part of a grange belonging to Furness Abbey from the fifteenth century. Evidence from the local Historic Environment Records (HER) in Kendal suggests a prehistoric presence in the area, with two stone axes (HER 2304 and 5600) found within 500m of the proposed development. During the evaluation, eleven trenches were excavated within the identified areas of development impact, three of which contained features of possible archaeological significance. Two ditches, 112 and 113, were observed in Trenches 6 and 11. No finds or dating evidence were recovered from any of the fills, 110, 111, 114 and 121, and they do not appear on any edition of the Ordnance Survey (OS), so may predate the mid nineteenth century. In Trench 2, two small pits were identified, 105 and 107, the former containing a small fragment of late Roman pottery, probably dating to the fourth or fifth centuries AD. These had been heavily truncated by root action, and are probably isolated features, and therefore, their significance could not be ascertained. More recent features were identified as two fence postholes, 109 and 120, in Trenches 6 and 10 respectively, which probably relate to the fence identified on the 1957 OS map, and two shallow modern linears, 116 and 118, in Trenches 8 and 10. Due to the close proximity and modern material within linear 118, it may relate to the construction of the houses to the south during the first half of the twentieth century. The results of the desk-based assessment and evaluation trenching would suggest that the site has very little archaeological potential. The features identified