Series: Castlering Archaeology unpublished report series

Building recording and site assessment to accompany an application for Listed Building Consent to demolish the property. Ivy House is a two-storey mid to late 18th century house with cellar and attic rooms built in Georgian style with a two-storey rear wing. Throughout the 19th century and for most of the 20th century the property was known as Astmoor Farmhouse. The economic depression of the 1930s may have aided its demise of the farm. In 1964 Runcorn was designated as a New Town to house the overspill from nearby Liverpool. By the early 1970s the industrial estate at Astmoor was completed erasing all buildings apart from the former farmhouse now known as Ivy House. The last known use of the building was as a cattery before purchase by the current owner. The use of a building as a dwelling became impossible when modern demands created the new industrial estate and Expressway that flank the site. The Listed building can no longer be reconciled with its modern surroundings. The integrity and setting of the Ivy House is now totally compromised. The building has been on fire, most of the roofline has fallen in, walls are unstable and the building is totally derelict. The site is surrounded by overgrown broadleaf. The secluded location of the building has resulted in it being frequented by youths and people taking drugs. Discarded alcohol containers litter the site together with evidence that people are sleeping rough on the site. This report concludes that despite its designated status, it is no longer practical to retain the building in this location. The current programme of work has ensured that a record has been made of the building prior to any future works.

DBA abd site walkover undertaken in 2005 on land at Crosse Hall Mill Farm, Chorley as part of proposed development application. Former site of Cross Hall Mill, a 19th century madder mill, processing madder for dyestuffs / also a farm. Site walk-over confirmed that the ground plan of the mill / farm complex survived on site almost in it's entirety as recorded on the 1839 Tithe and subsequent OS maps. Although the site had been subjected to considerable stone robbing over a period of over 50 years, substantial structural remains survived on the site.

WB undertaken during below-ground disturbance on Land off Shadsworth Road, Blackburn in May 2006 as part of planning condition. No new archaeological features were revealed other than the scant trace of a former field boundary.