| Abstract: |
The evaluation fieldwork was intended to comprise the excavation of 39 trenches,
each measuring 40m in length and 1.8m in width. The trenches were located
to test geophysical anomalies and to provide a representative sample of the
remainder of the site. With the approval of the client and the AA, three additional
trenches were subsequently excavated extending from Trench 3, in order to identify and investigate any additional features associated with a cremation identified in that
trench. Between April and May 2022, Cotswold Archaeology carried out an archaeological evaluation
of land at Lawn’s Farm, Lytham St Anne’s, Lancashire. The evaluation, comprising the
excavation of a total of 42 trenches, was carried out to inform a future planning application.
The proposed site is located on Lytham Moss, in the immediate vicinity of Peel Hall Farm, in
an area investigated as part of the North West Wetlands Survey. A general spread of Late
Neolithic to Early Bronze Age lithics was recovered during fieldwalking of fields to the east and
south of Peel Hall Farm, including parts of the proposed development area, while particular
concentrations of waste material from flint knapping were recovered in the north part of the
proposed development area, as site LA45, and to the immediate south as site LA41. At the
latter, along with waste material including cores and flakes, a significant component of finely-made flint tools including arrowheads and flake knives were recovered and the site was
suggested in the resulting report to potentially be associated with a now ploughed-out barrow.
A preceding geophysical survey indicated a low potential for archaeological remains other
than those associated with post-medieval and modern agricultural activity.
The evaluation revealed a cremation and a likely associated small pit located in Trench 3, in
an area where fieldwalking had previously identified a small flint scatter. The cremation
comprised two vessels, the smaller being largely complete, dating to the Early Bronze Age. A
small assemblage of burnt lithics, including two scrapers, were recovered from the cremation
and likely represent ‘pyre goods’. Three additional trenches were excavated radiating out from
the cremation; however, no further cremations or features were revealed, suggesting this was
an isolated burial with no evidence of an associated monument.
With the exception of Trench 3, the archaeological remains recorded across the rest of the
site almost exclusively relate to agricultural practice during the post-medieval and modern
periods. Ditches forming field boundaries, some of which correlated with those depicted on
19th century mapping of the site, were identified in a number of trenches, some of which had
been deliberately backfilled, likely associated with the post-War amalgamation of smaller fields
into larger ones. A pond depicted on historic mapping was exposed in Trench 12; modern
waste was recovered from the backfill.
The majority of the remaining undated ditches and pits revealed by the evaluation also likely
relate to this phase of activity.
Thick peat deposits were encountered in the northeast and east of site, correlating with the
lower lying topography. These areas would have been subject to seasonal flooding. Two
undated ditches revealed in Trenches 16 and 18, sealed by the peat, likely represent drainage
features. No dating material was recovered from the peat which would have taken a prolonged
period of time to accumulate to this extent. |
