Site Event/Activity record ECH6002 - Archaeological desk Based Assessment of land at Sydney Road, Crewe, Phase II. December 2014

MOLA Northampton conducted an Archaeological desk based assessment of land at Sydney Road, Crewe. There is little evidence of archaeological activity in the vicinity of the site. A roman road is located 2KM to the west of the site and the area was an important centre of saltworking since at least this period. In the medieval period, the are was part of Church Coppenhall parish and the economy was predominantly agricultural. The township was composed of small dispersed hamlets, although the hamlet of Sydney only developed in the latter half of the 19th century. Aerial photographs of he site showing extensive ridge and furrow earthworks indicate that it was part of the open field system, In 1837 the first railway line was opened, passing immediately to the west of the site. By 1842, Crewe had become an important junction and within a few years a planned, rapid expansion had begun. The site itself had however remained largely undeveloped, with many of the ancient field boundaries surviving