Site Event/Activity record ECH6436 - Woodford Aerodrome, Adlington, Cheshire: Archaeological Evaluation, Strip Map and Record and Watching Brief Report

Archaeological trial trenches, a strip map and record and watching brief were undertaken between April 2016 and April 2017 for land on the former Woodford Aerodrome, Adlington, Cheshire. The works form part of a residential-led, mixed use, redevelopment of the former aerodrome, including the partial removal of the runway, regrading works, footpath and cycle links, the naturalisation of a culverted watercourse and landscaping works. The evaluation trenches were excavated across the road to the east of Shirdfold Farm to investigate the postulated location of a Roman road. No evidence of a Roman road was found, but two of the trenches contained ditches, likely to be the remnants of field boundaries, as visible upon mid-nineteenth century cartographic sources; the third trench contained no archaeological remains. The strip, map and record investigation was located on the site of former buildings at Shirdfold Farm depicted on the 1850 Tithe Map. The foundations of a building, forming part of the nineteenth century farm complex, were recorded. The building appeared to be ancillary to the main house and demonstrated multiple phasing with the fully developed plan achieved by 1850. The character of the brick, together with the multiple phasing, suggests a date of construction between the late eighteenth to nineteenth centuries. Immediately to the south of the building, the area appears to have been undisturbed. Fragments of flooring and a length of brick wall identified to the south and west of this area are likely to belong to one of the farm’s out buildings. The watching brief carried out during the naturalisation of the river revealed no features or deposits of archaeological interest. It is apparent that during the construction of the runway, the original line of the river was infilled with modern waste material to the base of the channel. The absence of material suitable for paleoenvironmental sampling suggests that such deposits were not naturally occurring within the original water channel or were disturbed during backfilling works.