Site Event/Activity record ECH6316 - Archaeological Strip, Map and Sample. Land adjacent to Twemlow Lane, Cranage, Holmes Chapel

The strip, map and record comprised the excavation of a 34m by 20m area on the north-west side of the development site over the area of former croft buildings illustrated on the 1844 Tithe map. The work revealed six linear features of varying depth and width within the area on mainly east/west and north/south alignments. It is possible that at least one ditch relates to a field boundary visible on the historic mapping including the Tithe map and subsequent Ordnance Survey mapping, including the 1875 and 1910 maps. Nineteenth and twentieth century material within it suggests it was open up until that period, reinforcing this hypothesis. A further L-shaped ditch appears to coincide with former field boundaries and a further ditch appears to have be cut at a later date. The current layout of the field boundaries has changed significantly since the 1910 Ordnance Survey map. Three discrete features may be associated with former croft structures visible on the Tithe map but it is impossible to say what their function is for certain. There are no other features suggestive of former structures visible nearby or within the wider stripped area. Other linear features revealed are likely to be evidence of later agricultural activity. No material suitable for providing dating evidence was present within any of the features, except for a deposit of discarded nineteenth and twentieth material. It is probable that all the features are post-medieval in origin. The strip, map and record has not revealed definitive evidence for the below ground survival of the former croft buildings, and further archaeological investigation is unlikely to elucidate upon this.