Site Event/Activity record ECH3959 - Report on an Archaeological Evaluation at The Works, Wheelock Street, Middlewich

An archaeological evaluation of land at The Works, Wheelock Street, Middlewich. The evaluation comprised four evaluation trenches which provided an invaluable insight into the archaeological resource of the site, demonstrating that remains of the medieval and post-medieval period survive to a varying degree of quality and quantity across the site. Pits, ditches, and midden deposits form the bulk of the archaeological evidence, with artefactual evidence dominated by a large assemblage of medieval pottery, several items of metalwork, and post-medieval ceramics. All four trenches clearly demonstrated that much of the site has been subject to comprehensive cultivation during the past 1 ,000 years, and that the archaeological potential is unlikely to have been diminished by the extensive areas of hard standing which covered the site. The archaeological potential along the northern edge of the site was potentially greater owing to the discovery of organically rich soils, which arelikely to contain well preserved palaeoenvironmental evidence as well as the potential for leather and wooden artefacts of medieval date.