Crossacres Road, Sharston, Wythenshawe, Greater Manchester Revised Archaeological Desk-based Assessment Oxford Archaeology North December 2012 Prospect (GB) Ltd Issue No: 2012-13/1341 OA North Job No: L10564 NGR: SJ 83840 87892 Crossacres Road, Sharston, Wythenshawe, Greater Manchester: Desk-based Assessment 1 CONTENTS SUMMARY .......................................................................................................................2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................................3 1. I NTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................4 1.1 Circumstances of Project.....................................................................................4 1.2 Location, Topography and Geology....................................................................4 2. M ETHODOLOGY .........................................................................................................6 2.1 Desk-based Assessment ......................................................................................6 2.2 Planning Background and Legislative Framework .............................................7 2.3 Assessment of Potential ......................................................................................9 2.4 Site Visit............................................................................................................11 3. B ASELINE CONDITION .............................................................................................14 3.1 Historical and Archaeological Background ......................................................14 3.2 Development of the Scheme Area.....................................................................19 4. G AZETTEER OF SITES ..............................................................................................24 5. S IGNIFICANCE OF THE BURIED REMAINS ...............................................................26 5.1 Introduction.......................................................................................................26 5.2 Criteria...............................................................................................................26 5.3 Significance.......................................................................................................27 6. L IKELY IMPACT OF DEVELOPMENT .......................................................................28 6.1 Introduction.......................................................................................................28 6.2 Impact on Buried Remains................................................................................28 6.3 Impact Assessment............................................................................................29 7. R ECOMMENDATIONS ...............................................................................................30 7.1 Recommendations.............................................................................................30 BIBLIOGRAPHY .............................................................................................................31 Primary Sources............................................................................................................31 Secondary Sources........................................................................................................32 ILLUSTRATIONS ............................................................................................................33 Figures...........................................................................................................................33 For the use of: Prospect (GB) Ltd © OA North: December 2012 Crossacres Road, Sharston, Wythenshawe, Greater Manchester: Desk-based Assessment 2 SUMMARY In December 2012, Oxford Archaeology North (OA North) was commissioned by Prospect (GB) Ltd to carry out an archaeological desk-based assessment of land at Crossacres Road at Sharston, in the Wythenshawe area of Greater Manchester (centred on NGR SJ 83840 87892). The assessment was required to inform and support the full reserved matters planning application for the redevelopment of the site, which allows for the erection of 15 new residential properties. The principal aim of the assessment was to identify, as far as possible, the nature and significance of the sub-surface archaeological resource within the study area, and was required to inform and support a planning application for a proposed development of the site. The study area is situated on the eastern fringe of Wythenshawe, and lies some 10km to the south of Manchester city centre. The district, which incorporates the areas of Sharston ,Baguley, Benchill, Peel Hall, Newall Green, Woodhouse Park, Moss Nook, Northenden and Northern Moor, formed part of Cheshire until 1931, when it was transferred to the City of Manchester as part of a massive programme of housing development that had begun in the 1920s, signalling the widespread development of the area. The Scheme Area remained entirely undeveloped until the early 1930s, when a large residential property was built on the site. This building was demolished recently, although its footprint as a concrete raft foundation in the central portion of the Scheme Area. The site is otherwise unoccupied. There are no known sites of archaeological interest in the Scheme Area, and only four sites within a 300m radius. As no buried archaeological sites have been identified within the Scheme Area that may be considered as being of national importance, and therefore merit preservation in-situ , or of Regional/County or Local/Borough importance, which would merit preservation by record, no further archaeological investigations or mitigation works are recommended. For the use of: Prospect (GB) Ltd © OA North: December 2012 Crossacres Road, Sharston, Wythenshawe, Greater Manchester: Desk-based Assessment 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Oxford Archaeology North (OA North) would like to thank Johnson Mulk of Prospect (GB) Ltd for commissioning and supporting the project. OA North is also grateful to Dr Andrew Myers of the Greater Manchester Archaeological Advisory Service. Thanks are also expressed to the staff of the Local Studies Library at Elliot House for their assistance with the documentary research. The desk-based assessment and site visit was carried out by Charlotte Vallance and Ian Miller, and the illustrations were produced by Mark Tidmarsh. The report was edited by Ian Miller, who was also responsible for project management. For the use of: Prospect (GB) Ltd © OA North: December 2012 Crossacres Road, Sharston, Wythenshawe, Greater Manchester: Desk-based Assessment 4 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 CIRCUMSTANCES OF PROJECT 1.1.1 In June 2007, planning permission was obtained from Manchester City Council for the construction of ten two-storey dwellings on land off Crossacres Road in the Sharston area of Wythenshawe, Greater Manchester. However, the timescale for implementing that permission has now lapsed, and Prospect (GB) Ltd is presently devising a revised proposal that allows for the erection of 15 new residential properties. Outline planning permission for the revised scheme was obtained from Manchester City Council in December 2011. 1.1.2 In order to inform and support support the full reserved matters planning application, Prospect (GB) Ltd commissioned Oxford Archaeology North (OA North) to carry out an archaeological desk-based assessment of the site. The assessment was intended to provide an informed basis regarding the significance of any archaeological heritage assets within the proposed Scheme Area, and the impact of the development upon any identified heritage assets, which could then be used to inform recommendations concerning the outline planning application. 1.2 LOCATION , T OPOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY 1.2.1 Location: Wythenshawe is a southern district of Manchester, covering an area of approximately 11 square miles (28 km 2) between Stockport to the east and Trafford to the west. The district forms part of the county of Greater Manchester, although the boundary with the adjacent county of Cheshire lies a short distance to the south. 1.2.2 The Scheme Area lies on the southern fringe of Wythenshawe, in an area known historically as Crossacres. It occupies a plot of land on the east side of the junction of Crossacres Road with Hollyhedge Road (Plate 1). 1.2.3 Geology: Wythenshawe comprises three geological environments. The Mid Triassic sands and mudstone of the North Cheshire plain form a shelf about a mile south of the river Mersey. Slightly further to the south is a contrasting environment of hard boulder clay (GMAU 2009: 10). On the border of Cheshire and Greater Manchester, the Millstone Grit of the Pennines makes a 200m (660 ft) downfall to be covered to the west by the glacial tills of the Cheshire Plains, formed by the retreating ice age glaciers. 1.2.4 Topography: Wythenshawe is situated in the lowlands of the North Cheshire plain, where the maximum elevation is 110m above Ordnance Datum (aOD), dropping to 30m in the Mersey Basin (GMAU 2009: 10). The Scheme Area occupies a tract of fairly level land at a height of approximately 50.6m aOD. For the use of: Prospect (GB) Ltd © OA North: December 2012 Crossacres Road, Sharston, Wythenshawe, Greater Manchester: Desk-based Assessment 5 Plate 1: Recent aerial view of the Scheme Area For the use of: Prospect (GB) Ltd © OA North: December 2012 Crossacres Road, Sharston, Wythenshawe,