Site Event/Activity record ECH4507 - Land between Brook Street and Raby Road, Neston, Cheshire: An Archaeological Evaluation Report

An Archaeological evaluation was undertaken on land, an area of some 1600 metres square, between Brook Street and Raby Road, Neston, Cheshire. The work was undertaken by AOC Archaeology Group on behalf of Ellesmere Port and Neston Borough Council. The aims of the evaluation were to assess the impact of development on any surviving archaeological remains within the site. The evaluation comprised the machine and hand excavation of four trenches. The evaluation revealed a series of building remains (Trench 2) comprising red sandstone blocks with clay/lime mortar. These foundations in places overlay an earlier series of sandstone and cobbled surfaces. The 17th and early 18th century pottery assemblages collected from Trench 2 and 4 were of particular note as they contained a high proportion of imported wares. These included English imports such as North Devon gravel-tempered and gravel-free wares from Barnstaple, 'Tudor Green' ware from the Surrey border and tin-glazed earthenwares. Also present were continental wares including a Spanish Olive jar from Cadiz and German Westerwald stoneware. These imports date to the period when Neston was emerging as a major west coast port. Earlier medieval occupation was indicated by stray finds of pottery and roof tile. Some features cut into the natural subsoil (Trenches 1 and 4) may also be medieval in date. To summarise, the evaluation revealed that archaeological remains dating to the 17th century and earlier survive below the present carpark surface and its associated formation levels. Trenches 1 to 4 exhibited varying degress of modern truncation to the archaeological remains suggesting that across the rest of the site survival is likely to fluctuate between truncated negative features cut in to the natural sub-soil and upstanding masonry with associated in situ stratified surfaces and layers. (1)