Site Event/Activity record ECH6044 - Fibre Optic Cable Trench, Lyme Park, Disley, Cheshire. Archaeological Watching Brief

Watching brief during excavation of a pipe trench associated with the laying of fibre optic cables. Two sections of the 2000m trench were subject to a watching brief. Lyme Park dates to the 14th century and the proposed groundworks were likely to impact on several known archaeological features. The original medieval park pale and driveway were situated to the north of the scheme and there were two major post-medieval carriage driveways in the central section. Although the section of the trench to the north had the potential to reveal the park pale, it was not identified. A stone wall, 004, was located near to Bollinghurst Bridge, near to the main drive, and also a tree-lined avenue, which was seemingly an earlier line of driveway that extends out from the main drive. The orientation of the wall was slightly skewed to both the adjacent main drive and the tree-lined avenue and it is not certain if it related to either. The wall has been interpreted, on the basis of its visual appearance, as a former boundary wall. Two culverts (006 and 007) were observed in the southern section of the cable trench, and provided for drainage in the area. It was possible that they extended out from the area of the nearby former stable buildings. The earlier culvert was made out of brick, and was seemingly replaced with a later, larger stone one. The change possibly coincided with the addition of new buildings to the stables, and the reworking of the area, as shown on the tithe map for Lyme Handley c 1850. By 1871, the stables had largely been demolished, with only the south-eastern corner being retained as kennels. It is possible that mixed demolition deposits observed throughout this section were from the former stables. The archaeological remains observed during the excavation of the fibre optic cable trench were of low archaeological significance. The three structural elements observed were seemingly related to drainage or served as a putative boundary wall. To the south of the scheme, the demolition rubble and burnt deposits observed could not be interpreted within a wider context, and were probably deposits related to the demolition of the former stable buildings. No further work is recommended