| Title: |
Abbey House Hotel, Abbey Road, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, Abbey House Hotel, Abbey Road, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria: Archaeological Watching Brief |
| Series: |
Greenlane Archaeology Ltd unpublished report series
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| Biblio Note |
This report was uploaded to the OASIS system by the named Publisher. The report has not been reviewed by the relevant HER. The report has been transferred into the ADS Library for public access and to facilitate future research.
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| DOI |
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| Publication Type: |
Report (in Series)
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| Abstract: |
Following an application for Scheduled Monument Consent to install a range of electrical vehicle charging points in the car park at the Abbey House Hotel, Abbey Road, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, a condition was placed requiring an archaeological watching brief to take place in conjunction with the excavation of the trench for the new cabling required. The hotel, which is a Grade II* Listed Building, is located within the precinct of Furness Abbey and therefore within its Scheduled Monument. Greenlane Archaeology was commissioned to carry out the watching brief, which was undertaken in February 2023. While the wider area contains evidence for activity from the last Ice Age onwards, the site itself is archaeologically most significant because of its association with Furness Abbey. The Abbey was established in 1127 and became one of the most powerful monastic houses in the country. The Abbey House Hotel was built to the designs of Sir Edward Lutyens in 1914 as a house for the director of Vickers shipyard and his guests. It subsequently became an old people’s home and was converted into a hotel in 1985. The map evidence shows that prior to the construction of the hotel the area in question was open fields, essentially all within a single field named ‘Bull Copy’. When the hotel was built, the area was landscaped into associated gardens and drives. The watching brief monitored the excavation of a single continuous trench, approximately parallel to Abbey Road, running from Abbey Approach at the north end, beyond the current precinct wall and boundary of the Scheduled Monument Area, through an area of lawns to the car park at the south end. A range of deposits were observed, primarily topsoils and subsoil/natural, although various cut features were also encountered, including later services and a row of shallow ditches that probably represent the remnants of ridge and furrow cultivation. Across the entrance drive an earlier structure with flanking walls and a stone flag surface was revealed while evidence from the car park suggests that earlier deposits had been partially truncated. Four phases of activity were revealed, with little evidence for anything definitely medieval. However, the ridge and furrow may have originated in this period and the line of the original precinct wall was revealed by a concrete filled feature where this had already been disturbed. Only finds of post-medieval date were recovered, the majority probably representing accidental losses. While no features of great archaeological significance were discovered, the watching brief did add to our understanding of the development of this part of the Furness Abbey site and largely confirmed what the map evidence showed. |
| Author: |
Daniel W Elsworth
Thomas Mace
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| Publisher: |
Greenlane Archaeology Ltd
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| Year of Publication: |
2023
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| Locations: |
| District: |
Westmorland and Furness |
| County: |
Cumbria |
| Country: |
England |
| Parish: |
Barrow-in-Furness, unparished area |
| County: |
Westmorland and Furness |
| District: |
Barrow-in-Furness |
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Grid Reference: 321671, 472214 (Easting, Northing)
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Grid Reference: 321609, 472067 (Easting, Northing)
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| Subjects / Periods: |
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| Identifiers: |
| OASIS Id: |
greenlan1-518791 |
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| Source: |
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| Relations: |
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| Created Date: |
08 Jan 2024 |
