Site Event/Activity record ECH4401 - Land to the West of Norton Priory, Halton, Cheshire: Archaeological Evaluation

The majority of the trenches across the site revealed substantial layers of redeposited clay, ranging from 0.18m thick to the south and over 2.15m to the north. The mill pond had been infilled sometime between the mid-eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries with the redeposited of clay most likely relating to this event. However, the redeposited clay was not wholly restricted to the millpond, and is also recorded to the north and south, indicating that either the entire valley in which the site sits was levelled-up, or that the pond was larger than previously assumed. Silt deposits were observed below the redeposited clay in some of the trenches. Several fragments of relatively modern pottery were recovered from the redeposited clays and one post-medieval period pottery sherd from the silts. Large fragments of sandstone rubble were observed in the silt deposits suggesting that demolition material was thrown into the former millpond before it was completely backfilled. The site of the monastic mill was not identified, and no material dating to the medieval period was recovered.