| Abstract: |
Following submission of a planning application for residential development of land off Mill Lane, Caton, Lancashire, an archaeological evaluation was carried out by Greenlane Archaeology. This followed on from an archaeological desk-based assessment in 2018 and geophysical survey in 2021. The desk-based assessment highlighted the potential to find undisturbed archaeological remains within the site boundary and recommended that a geophysical survey be carried out across the southern half of the development area followed by a programme of targeted trial trenching. The evaluation comprised the excavation of 10 trenches, each approximately 20m long. Plough scars were recorded that demonstrate the area had been ploughed previously and it was perhaps as a consequence of this disturbance that no features of archaeological interest were encountered. However, a number of flint artefacts were recovered from the subsoil in Trenches 3, 4 and 8, located on the north and east sides of the site.
Lithic material such as this has tended to be found in concentrations in coastal areas and along river valleys, as is the case here, the current course of the River Lune being around 200m to the north-west of the site. Similar material has been found eroding from the banks of the river at the Crook O’Lune to the west, and was recovered during archaeological work a short distance from the site in 2002.
As a result, Greenlane Archaeology was commissioned to carry out an archaeological watching brief on specific parts of the development site, in order to assess whether there was further evidence for prehistoric activity. The first phase of this was topsoil stripping an area of approximately 30m by 20m on the west side of the site, adjacent to the entrance, to enable a site compound to be created. This revealed that below the topsoil, which included a lot of dumped material, there was an area of gravel alongside the track, and an area of modern disturbance, but elsewhere the subsoil remained intact. Hand cleaning and sieving of this did not reveal any further lithic artefacts although medieval and post-medieval pottery was present and a single fragment of iron working slag, perhaps resulting from a bloomery.
The watching brief did not reveal any further finds of significance, in particular evidence for flint working, and while it is still likely that other remains of prehistoric date are present on the site, the potential for finding significant remains is probably limited. |
