Community Archaeological Excavation Halton Castle, Runcorn Client: Norton Priory Museum and Gardens Technical Report: Sarah Cattell Report No: 24/2015 1 Site Location: Land situated within the ancient scheduled monument of Halton Castle, Castle Road, Halton, Runcorn, Cheshire, WA7 1SX. NGR: SJ 53756 82035 Internal Ref: (SA 24/2015) Proposal: Archaeological Evaluation Planning Ref: N/A Prepared for: Norton Priory Museum and Gardens Document Title: Halton Castle, Runcorn - Community Excavation Document Type: Archaeological Excavation Report. Version: Version 1.0 Author: Sarah Cattell. Position: Project Officer Date: November 2016 Signed:………………….. Approved by: Adam J Thompson BA Hons, MA, MIFA Position: Director of Archaeology Date: November 2016 Signed:………………….. Copyright: Copyright for this document remains with Salford Archaeology, University of Salford. Contact: Salford Archaeology, University of Salford, Room LG25, Peel Building, Crescent, Salford, M5 4WX. Telephone: 0161 295 2545 Email: [email protected] Disclaimer: This document has been prepared by the Salford 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 Salford 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. © Salford Archaeology: Halton Castle, Runcorn - Community Excavation 2015, (24). 2 Contents Summary 4 1. Introduction 6 2. Archaeological & Historical Background 7 3. Methodology 13 4. Archaeological Descriptions 16 5. Archaeological Results 31 6. Discussion 38 7. Archive 49 8. Acknowledgements 50 9. Sources 51 Appendix 1: Figures 55 Appendix 2: Context List 64 Appendix 3: Geophysical Report 66 Appendix 4: Skeletal Analysis 72 Appendix 5: Radiocarbon Analysis Update 126 Appendix 6: Finds Assessment 129 © Salford Archaeology: Halton Castle, Runcorn - Community Excavation 2015, (24). 3 Summary Salford Archaeology (SA) was commissioned by Norton Priory Museum and Gardens to undertake a community archaeological excavation on the site of Halton Castle (centred at SJ 53756 820350). The site is both a Scheduled Monument and the standing remains are also a Grade I listed building. This work formed part of the Heritage Lottery Funded Halton Castle Project to further assess the archaeological potential for remains associated with the occupation of the outer bailey of the castle not identified within previous excavations conducted by Robina McNeil in 1985/6. The findings from the excavation will inform the future treatment of the Scheduled Area and enhance the presentation of the site to the wider public. The work was carried out by local volunteers and school children under the supervision of SA staff. In total over 250 children, 90 adult volunteers and 150 visitors worked on the site or visited during the open day. Halton Castle was thought to have been established in 1071 by Nigel, 1st Baron of Halton at the height of Norman power. Originally it was believed that the first castle was of timber motte and bailey construction, but to date no evidence of this has been found. Throughout the subsequent centuries the castle was rebuilt in stone in a piecemeal fashion with a consistent programme of maintenance and alterations. As part of this a large stone gatehouse was constructed in the 1450s along with the construction of towers and internal buildings. By the late 16th century the castle structures had fallen into disrepair, with the exception of the courthouse. The castle was besieged during the Civil War and eventually fell to the Parliamentarians in 1644 by which time it was in a ruinous state and ordered to be slighted. Excavation areas were located to investigate the nature and extent of the remains associated with structures in the outer bailey of the castle. Trenches were opened to investigate anomalies seen on the preceding geophysical survey and further investigate features identified during the 1980s excavations. The excavation of Trench 1 was intended to locate remains associated with a building observed on the Randall Holmes sketch plan which may have been a stable block. Although a number of pottery sherds were found throughout the trench dating from the medieval period onwards, no features were identified other than a large deposit of sandstone rubble which was found to lie in excess of 1.70m below the current ground level. Trench 2 was also sited to investigate features identified on both the Randall Holmes sketch plan and the geophysical survey. This trench was able to uncover features and © Salford Archaeology: Halton Castle, Runcorn - Community Excavation 2015, (24). 4 artefacts from the medieval period onwards, including part of a tower first identified during the 1980s. In addition, two burials were found within the trench dating to the 15th and 16th/17th century. The discovery of burials within a castle is very rare and will require further investigation to fully understand. Many of the features in this trench were cut directly into the bedrock and may indicate earlier occupation phases predating the construction of the castle. © Salford Archaeology: Halton Castle, Runcorn - Community Excavation 2015, (24). 5 1. Introduction 1.1 Background Salford Archaeology (SA) was commissioned by Norton Priory Museum and Gardens to run a community archaeological excavation on the site of Halton Castle, Runcorn. The excavation formed part of the HLF funded Halton Castle Project designed to further investigate the archaeological potential of the site and engage the local community. The purpose of the excavation was to further investigate the archaeological remains associated with the medieval and post-medieval activity on the site. The current work was informed by a previous excavation conducted by Robina McNeil in 1985/6. The findings from this excavation will inform the future treatment of the Scheduled Area and enhance the presentation of the site to the wider public. 1.2 Location, Topography & Current Land Use The site of Halton Castle (centred SJ 53756 82035) is located at Runcorn approximately 24.0km south-east of Liverpool and approximately 24.0km north-east of Chester. The extant castle is a complex of seven identifiable standing structures, plus the land enclosed by its outer wall, located at the east end of Castle Road at the heart of Halton Village (Insall Associates Ltd, 2006, Vol 1). The underlying geology of the area of Halton Castle is chiefly comprised of Helsby Sandstone with little to no drift geology. The formation of the sandstone is pebbly (gravelly) from the Anision age and underlies a minimal Rendzina soil type. The bedrock protrudes on the top of the promontory where Halton Castle is located to a height of 1.5m and the Castle is constructed directly on top of this bedrock. 1.3 Personnel The project was conducted by professional archaeologists from Salford Archaeology. On-site excavations were carried out by local volunteers under the supervision of Sarah Cattell, Kirsty Whittall, Rachael Reader and Stuart Harris. The report was compiled, written and illustrated by Sarah Cattell, Mike Nevell and Andrew Radford. The project was managed by Vicky Nash. 1.4 Monitoring The archaeological works were subject to Historic England Scheduled Monument consent granted by Andrew Davison and monitored throughout the project by Frank Hargrave and Lynn Smith from Norton Priory and by Mark Leah, Development Control Archaeologist for Cheshire West and Chester Council. © Salford Archaeology: Halton Castle, Runcorn - Community Excavation 2015, (24). 6 2. Historical Background 2.1 Historical Background This section of the report is taken from previous historical research undertaken for the Halton Castle Conservation Management Plan (June 2006), which was carried out by Donald Insall Associates Ltd with assistance from Gifford Consulting and Graham Barrow Research & Consulting Ltd. Figure 1: Plan showing the phasing of the remaining fabric at Halton Castle (Insall Associates Ltd, 2006: Vol 1 Pg. 26). 2.2 Prehistoric and Roman Archaeological evidence dating to the prehistoric and Roman periods is scant in the area of the castle and its environs. Later prehistoric (700BC-AD43) finds have been made in the surrounding areas including Clifton, Weston Point, Frodsham and Norton Village. The only find dating from this period was an Iron Age coin found at the castle itself, suggesting the possibility of some form of settlement on the site. It is noteworthy however that the site of Halton Castle sits slightly to the north of the Iron Age hillforts along the mid-Cheshire Sandstone Ridge, indicating the importance of promontory sites in this area during the Iron Age. Along with this, the defensive position of Halton Castle overlooking the Mersey would make Iron Age settlement highly likely. © Salford Archaeology: Halton Castle, Runcorn - Community Excavation 2015, (24). 7 Roman settlements are well known at Chester, Wilderspool, Northwich, Nantwich and Middlewich although it is unclear if there was also a presence in Halton Village. A single ditched enclosure was found at Halton Brow in 1936 which later investigation suggested to be a farming settlement. There is also evidence of a Roman road at Big Pool in Runcorn leading to Weston and the Romans may have established the Runcorn gap as a crossing point on the Mersey. No finds of Roman date have been identified within the castle or hilltop. 2.3 Norman Period It has been considered that the site may have had prehistoric origins; possibly as a small Iron Age camp (McNeill 1987, 21).