Site Event/Activity record ECH3488 - Nether Alderley County Primary School

On 11.5.00 a visit was made to Nether Alderley County Primary School, to examine the foundations of a new classroom extension at SJ 8435 7662. The visit was made in response to a request from Mr Brian Hobson, Nether Alderley parish councilor, who suggested that the development extended over the line of an ancient track, shown on a 1787 estate map. He suggested that this might represent a Roman road, although the line is not listed in any of the sources or recorded in the Cheshire Sites and Monuments Record. A sandstone ‘anvil stone’ (CSMR 1403), now lost, was, however, recovered from the site in 1933 and flint’chippings’ have apparently been recovered from the same site. The foundations of the new extension, which had been cut to a depth of 1.2m, were examined and revealed a clean red clay overlain by increasing depths of topsoil in the sections cut for the northern part of the building (marked in red on accompanying plan). No trace of a road or track was seen. In the southern foundations a brick-lined well shaft, capped by a concrete slab was revealed (position marked on accompanying plan). The shaft was brick lined, c 1m in diameter, and c 10m deep, with water at the bottom. The bricks were machine made and it is unlikely that the well is older than the mid 19th century. The well will be capped and the foundations extended over the structure. M D Leah 15.5.00