Lancaster District Extra Sites Initial Desktop Archaeological Assessment 16 April 2018 Lancashire Archaeological Advisory Service 1 Carr House Lane, Lancaster LA1 1SW [email protected] Introduction and Methodology Lancaster City Council, as part of the evidence base to support the emerging Local Plan, are seeking an archaeological assessment of a number of sites across the Lancaster District, proposed to be allocated for development. Lancashire Archaeological Advisory Service has been commissioned to extract a relevant data set from the Lancashire Historic Environment Record, held by Lancashire County Council, and to provide an initial archaeological appraisal of each of the proposed development sites in order to identify any nearby archaeological heritage assets and to assess the potential scale of impact. The boundaries of the sites, names, etc. were provided by Lancaster City Council as ArcGIS shapefiles. For each site the following information has been requested: • Identification of known heritage assets (designated and non-designated) within the site; • Outline assessment of the site's potential to retain unknown buried deposits; • Identification of designated or non-designated heritage assets nominally within 500m or such other distance as may be appropriate taking into account the significance of the asset and the circumstances of the site; • Overall conclusion to establish whether the site is considered to be of no archaeological significance/ of some archaeological significance/ of high archaeological significance and whether any heritage assets are considered to be of negligible/local/regional/national importance; • Recommendations for future survey, where it is deemed appropriate. The assessment has been undertaken utilising existing datasets, archaeological reports, publications, etc. held at the Lancashire Historic Environment Record. No further documentary research has been undertaken nor have further sources of information been sought out. Only where specifically stated has a targetted site visit also been conducted. Limits of this assessment This assessment work has been undertaken using professional judgement by Peter Iles, BSc MSc MCIfA. No formal system of scoring has been used to assign potential or significance to the proposed development sites, although experience of such procedures and of providing information and advice on archaeological planning matters in Lancashire has contributed to the conclusions drawn. Statements that follow should therefore be taken as an informed professional opinion, rather than fact. 1 Land at Moor Lane Mills DOS This is a brownfield site a little to the east of Lancaster City Centre. It lies between Moor Lane, Bulk Street, Nelson Street and the Lancaster Canal and is presently occupied by a series of car parks and the surviving buildings of Moor Lane Mills South, which are currently in use as offices. On the southern (Nelson Street) side of the site and excluded from it, stands a former Independent Methodist Chapel of 1829 and an adjacent 20 th century building, now a Roman Catholic Chapel and dance studio. The site falls completely within the Lancaster Conservation Area and the main mill building is Listed Grade II (the other two surviving mill buildings may be Curtilage Listed, but this needs to be confirmed). The site is likely to have been utilised since at least the middle prehistoric period – excavations on an adjacent site at the rear of 5 Dalton Square revealed a well-preserved soil horizon containing Mesolithic or Neolithic stone implements and hazelnut shells. There is no evidence of Roman activity on the site and it probably falls outside the civilian settlement associated with the fort on Castle Hill, but the line of a Roman road is said to run eastwards from it, approximately on the line of Moor Lane. In the medieval period the site seems to have fallen immediately outside the precinct of the Lancaster Friary, with Bulk Street approximately representing the boundary. Moor Lane is likely to have been extant during this period, accessing the stone quarries and grazing to the east of the town and leading (eventually) to the Forest of Bowland. Docton's reconstructed map of 1684 notes 'The First Houses' on the south side of Moor Lane within the site and Mackreth's 1778 map also shows these with what appear to be the remains of strip fields running to their south. Bulk Street and Nelson Street had been established by the early 19 th century, although the latter did not yet cross the canal. Within the site Plumb, Rose and Monmouth Streets had been established and a less formal route named Piccadilly is also noted to the east side on Binn's map of 1821. Moor Lane Mills are said to have originated as a sailcloth manufactory extant 1775-1825, being replaced by the present steam-powered cotton mill at that date and clearly shown on the OS 1:,056 map of 1849 (Sheet Lancaster 10). By this date most of the area was built up, with a single strip of open yards surviving between Monmouth Street and the new cotton mill. By the 1890s this area had also been overbuilt by weaving sheds to the cotton mill. The strip between Bulk Street and Monmouth Street, as well as land north of Plumb Street, was cleared by the 1960s, the weaving sheds were demolished in 1986 and the remaining buildings on the Bulk Street/Moor Lane corner also lost about this time. Some remains of the former buildings survive in and around the present car parks as boundary and retaining wall features, and it is probable that buried remains of the 19th century structures will also survive. Earlier buried remains could also exist in pockets between areas of later disturbance or buried under 'make-up' deposits, but it will be difficult to predict where these exist without trial excavation. As noted above the Listed Gd II former mill building stands at the northeast corner of the site and the two adjacent stone buildings may also be 'curtilage listed'. Moor Lane Mills North on the opposite side of Moor Lane are also Listed Gd II as are nos 4-10 Sulyard Street. The cathedral of St Peter, diagonally southeast of the corner of the site across the canal is Listed Gd II*, as is Lancaster Town Hall, 85m to the southwest. The former cooperative building, now Equitable House and converted to flats, is unlisted but a building of some architectural presence on the northwest side of the site. As noted above, the site falls within the Lancaster Conservation Area. Finally, whilst the adjacent Lancaster Canal is itself unlisted, it is of some heritage significance and its setting should be considered as part of any development scheme The buried 19 th century remains on the site are considered to be of local archaeological significance, but surviving medieval and earlier remains could be of county significance. 2 A formal heritage statement should accompany any planning proposal for the site, which should include the results of a desk-based study and walk-over survey, but archaeological investigations of the potential buried remains can be made a condition of any planning consent granted. LPSA 21: Land south of 18-24 Monkswell Avenue, Bolton-le-Sands This site comprises three open fields on the west side of the By-Pass Road at Bolton-le-Sands, the larger block south of the cricket field and the smaller (separated by the Mill Dam stream) lying between the rear of properties on Monkswell Avenue and the early 19 th century Monkswell Farmhouse and attached converted barn. The land is open on the OS 1848 OS 1:10,560 mapping (sheet Lancashire 24) and probably formed part of Monkswell Farm at that time. The Mill Dam is also shown on that map, running northwest to feed Bolton Mill on Mill Lane. In 1891 the buildings are annotated 'Monk's Farm and 85m to the south is Monk's Well. The Historic Environment Record does not note a monastic connection to this site, nor if the name simply reflects the original owner's name, although grants of land to Furness Abbey are recorded in the 13 th century. The Record does not note any early findspots in the immediate vicinity, although some prehistoric, Roman and medieval material is reported in the general area. The site lies just to the west of the Bolton-le-Sands Conservation Area and some 80m northwest of the Listed Gd II Packet Bridge over the Lancaster Canal. The Gd II former Packet Boat Inn and 6-7 Packet Lane lie a short distance beyond the bridge. The site is of unknown but probably local or negligible archaeological significance. A formal heritage statement does not appear to be necessary for development here, but an archaeological watching brief could be requested by planning condition. LPSA 108: Woodlands, Garstang Road, Cockerham This is a single residential plot on the southwest side of the road at Cockerham, containing a detached 20 th century dwelling and situated between similar single dwelling plots. The Historic Environment Record notes the presence of the pedestal of a possibly medieval stone cross, a short distance to the southeast at the junction with Cockerham Road, where some now-demolished houses are shown on the OS 1:10,560 map of 1847 (sheet Lancashire 39). To the north is the site of the village school, now incorporated into the present school and to the east the projected line of a Roman road. This road line, which has been traced from LiDAR but has yet to be confirmed by formal excavation, has been suggested as an alternative to the 'traditional' line of the Preston- Lancaster road, deviating from that line at Catterall and crossing Cockerham Road between Garstang Road and the River Cocker. The closest Listed Buildings are the Gd II* church of St Michael and the Gd II sundial base in the churchyard, a little under 400m to the west.