Site Event/Activity record ECH3856 - Evaluation on the Footprint of the Proposed Extension to the Meter Building Anderton Boat Lift, Northwich, Cheshire

An archaeological evaluation was undertaken as part of a wider series of archaeological investigations related to the renovation of the Anderton Boat Lift. Five trenches (Trenches 1-5) had been previously excavated in 1999 (see ECH3858/SCH3900), a further three were investigated in August/September 2000 (Trenches 6-8). Trenches 6 and 7 formed part of an on-going watching brief. Trench 8 investigated land adjacent to the Meter Building, to the north of the lift pit, beneath the aqueduct of the boat lift. No available map shows the arrangement of buildings under the aqueduct, although a paper in the 'Engineer' of 1908 shows detailed drawings of the Boat Lift prior to conversion to electricity in 1908. One plan details a hipped building protruding from beneath the eastern side of the aqueduct; this is thought to be the original Engine House. The same building is depicted on the first, second and third editions of 1:2500 OS maps. A further plan dating to 1903 and titled 'Arrangement of pipes at Anderton Lift' appears to depict the Meter Building and part of the Engine House, it also shows the layout of steam engines and electrical machinery. Both the Meter Building and Engine House also appear on historic photographs. The evaluation recorded the remains of a red-brick building in Trench 8 which is believed to be the Engine House which housed the steam boilers and engines which ran the hydraulics to operate the Boat Lift. The internal features correlate to the those depicted on the plan of 1903 'Arrangement of pipes at Anderton Lift'. Two rows of red sandstone blocks were the beds for the steam engines. The junction of the southern walls of the Engine House and the Meter Building shows that the Meter Building was a later addition, having been built onto the Engine House. (1)