Site Event/Activity record ECH4610 - Archaeological Condition Survey of the Cheshire Sandstone Ridge in 2008 (Habitats and Hillforts)

The Natural and Historic Environment Team of Cheshire County Council commissioned Oxford Archaeology North (OA North) to undertake an archaeological condition survey as part of the Habitats and Hillforts of Cheshire’s Sandstone Ridge project. The work, which also included a separate desk-based assessment, undertaken by OA North in the autumn of 2007, was required to provide an appraisal of the archaeological resource represented by the six hillforts of the Sandstone Ridge and their environs, in order to facilitate informed multidisciplinary management of that resource. The hillforts of Helsby (SJ 49277539), Woodhouse (SJ 51077573), Eddisbury (SJ 55346933), Kelsborrow Castle (SJ 43166752), Beeston Castle (SJ 53815919), and Maiden Castle, Bickerton Hill (SJ 49775287), all Scheduled Monuments, were evaluated by field survey to determine condition, managerial regimes, access, amenity value, and threats to the archaeological resource. The survey was undertaken between the 17th and 26th October 2007. The survey has concluded that the archaeological resource is under High Risk at all but one of the six hillforts, the exception being Beeston Castle Hillfort where the archaeological resource is assessed as being under Medium Risk. The principal threats are agricultural activity, predominantly ploughing, erosion through visitor pressure, and vegetation encroachment, causing root damage to sub-surface deposits. Other evident threats include erosion by grazing animals, erosion by horses and mountain bikes, animal burrowing, the lighting of campfires and vandalism, and the construction of garden features. Management recommendations are proposed, including a reduction in ploughing, control of visitor access and movement, removal of scrub, bracken and some trees, and control of burrowing animals. Areas and opportunities for further archaeological investigations have also been identified, to evaluate the surviving resource, and the potential level of damage to sub-surface archaeological deposits. Successful future management of the hillfort sites will hinge on the production and implementation of managerial agreements, between the landowners, tenants, English Heritage and other curatorial bodies, and the regular monitoring of the sites, threats, and remedial measures. This work complements an earlier assessment of the sites (R2893).