Greenlane Archaeology Ltd unpublished report series

Building recording carried out in advance of redevelopment of a home farm built in 1893 for William S Paget-Tomlinson who inherited the Biggins Estate in 1889. The mansion itself, which was destroyed by fire in 1942, was designed in the 'Elizabethan domestic style' by William Verity and by a local contractor William Bayliff. The home farm and its outbuildings were built in a similar style, probably by the same person. The farm buildings comprised two ranges arranged around a large yard; the west yard comprising a large barn, shippons, a loose box and midden and the east range comprising calf pens, a dairy, a scullery and game keeper's room. Despite their relative modernity of the buildings a number of phases of alteration were recorded, all of which related to periods of repair or changes in use the buildings.

Building recording of a barn prior to its redevelopment for domestic use. The building is recorded on maps of the site from the mid 19th century, but does not appear to be shown on a plan of 1815. It was enlarged throughout the 19th century. The building recording revealed it to be a varient type of bank barn containing a threshing floor on the ground floor and a smaller cow house beneath. It was enlarged to provide greater accomodation for cattle, until that became its primary use. During the 20th century it was partially made redundent by a new building to the west, and the lower floor was concreted in to form a slurry store.

An evaluation revealed medieval and post-medieval pottery. Given the topography of the site with a steep bank rising to the west, it seemed unlikely that the land was ever ploughed and was planted with fruit trees. This may have explained the lack of medieval artefacts that were expected to have been introduced during manuring. [Au(adp)]

RCHME Level 2 recording of warehouse at Queens Court. The building was found have been built in approximately 1877, and to have remained largely unchanged since then.

Building recording in advance of conversion for residential use. The church was built in 1872 to the designs of James W Grundy of Ulverston and was soon enlarged with the addition of a gallery (although this was on the original plans) and an extension to the west to house the organ. By 1958 it was in a poor condition due to structural problems and faced demolition. It was repaired, however, and continued to be used until 1993 when it was stripped of its intenal fittings and used as a builder's store. The building recording identified elements corresponding to all of the known phases of the building's development.

Building recording of a farmstead in advance of demolition for the construction of a by-pass. The farm is thought to have its origins in c1630 (based on a modern sign attached to one end of it) but the earliest records only seem to go back to the middle of the 19th or possibly late 18th century. It was occupied by two main families of farmers, the second of which, who lived on the site for over 100 years, also ran a carrier business. The farm originally only comprised a house and barn, but it was gradually expanded to include a pigsty and coach house. The house was badly damaged by a fire in 1981 and almost all of the original features were removed at this point. The building recording revealed that the original house was probably of late 17th or early 18th century origin, and had been extensively remodelled in the late 18th or early 19th century, before being enlarged in the the 19th and 20th. The barn was probably of a similar age to the house, and originated as a threshing barn, before being enlarged to house cattle. Both the house and the barn contained numerous pieces of re-used timber forming beams (some of which were probably from cruck-framed buildings), and there was evidence for textile weaving, in the form of large hooks driven into a beam in the hall, within the house. Dendrochronological samples were taken from the building, but unfortunately these proved to be unuseable.

RCHME Level 2 recording of agricultural buildings at Parkhouse Farm. The buildings were found to be multi-phase, with the earliest elements probably dating to the late 18th or early 19th century. Re-used masonry from Furness Abbey was observed, and re-used timber, and timber with Baltic timber marks was also present.

As part of a pre-planning assessment of land adjacent to Boroughgate in Appleby an archaeological evaluaton was carried out. The site is at the south end of the street, immediately opposite the gates of the castle. Boroughgate probably developed as a response to the granting of a borough charter in 1179, which led to an expansion of the town within a loop of the river between the castle and church. Early maps of the site indicate that it comprised two burgage plots and had been occupied by buildings on the east side in 1754 but during the 19th century it was largely empty. The evaluation revealed a number of well-preserved features of medieval and post-medieval date including areas of cobbling with an associated stone-lined drain, pits and linear features, in some cases sealed beneath a thick layer of garden soil. A substantial quantity of finds was recovered, including a large amount of high-quality medieval pottery and pieces of floor tile, indicating that high status building(s) had stood nearby and there was a high potential for finding further remains.

A desk-based assessment and evaluation carried out on the site of a former 19th century coach works and aerated bottling plant. The evaluation revealed post-medieval and modern material, and in one area a stony surface covered by a buried soil containing medieval and post-medieval pottery. An excavation was subsequently carried out to investigate this area, and it was concluded that the stony surface was a road of probable 12-13th century date.

An archaeological watching brief was carried out from 23rd April to 30th May 2007 on a large area adjoining Hindpool Road and Cornmill Crossing, Barrow-in-Furness. This recorded the standing remains, foundations, and below ground structures associated with an iron foundry and gasworks established on the site in the 1860s, as well as monitoring geotechnical test pits and the removal of contaminated ground. The majority of the surviving foundations of the iron foundry were based around Cornmill Crossing. Beneath the concrete floor slabs evidence of three individual buildings and areas of metal working were discovered. An underground flue was also discovered, as were three interesting collections of buried cast iron and slag, presumably relating to phases of demolition. In total, four phases of activity were identified: the original foundry buildings, re-development after a fire in 1906, demolition in 1938/9, and late 20th century re-use of the foundry buildings for other purposes. The gasworks site revealed two buried buildings, the first of which was original and had a large basement containing a flue as well as tanks that may relate to the nearby railway siding. The second building was later and had a concrete floor slab and a huge foundation base adjacent. Two phases were identified - the original buildings and re-development occurring between 1873 and 1891.