| Abstract: |
In October 2017, Bury Council granted consent for an outline planning application to redevelop
the former Cussons soap factory at Kersal Vale Road, Prestwich (Planning Ref: 61474). The
site extends over approximately 3.6ha, and is bisected by Kersal Vale Road (centred on NGR
SD 80868 01977). The consented scheme allowed for the construction of up to 118 residential
units (Class C3) and associated means of access, the delivery of which had potential to
damage or remove any below-ground remains of archaeological interest.
The site had been occupied from at least the 16th century by Kersal Corn Mill and, from the
early 19th century, by a textile-printing works. The archaeological interest in these sites was
highlighted in a desk-based study, which concluded that it would be appropriate to undertake
a programme of archaeological investigation in advance of, or during, the development
groundworks. This advice was formalised in a condition attached to planning consent
(Condition 24). The scope of the archaeological investigation was outlined in a Written
Scheme of Investigation prepared by RPS Consulting, which allowed for a watching brief to
be maintained during the groundworks associated with the development. Ground-breaking works across the footprint of the corn mill were monitored in June 2020, in
advance of a gabion wall being constructed across the site. Substantial structural remains of
the former mill were uncovered at an early stage in these works, and included a large waterwheel pit that had been cut into the sandstone bedrock, together with associated water
channels, the foundations of the mill building and a series of features cut into the natural
subsoil or solid geology. Further investigation uncovered the top of what was almost certainly
an earlier water-wheel pit and associated water-management features, and whilst this was not
excavated fully, it is likely to have been constructed during the late medieval period, and was
certainly extant by 1538.
Physical evidence for several subsequent phases of the development of the mill was identified,
which included the construction of a larger water-wheel pit and replacement watermanagement system, together with an expansion of the mill building.
The archaeological investigation provided a valuable opportunity to examine the very rare
survival of a water-powered corn mill in Greater Manchester, and has generated an important
dataset that has potential for future research. |
