Site Event/Activity record ECH6440 - Archaeological Watching Brief Report: Grange Farm, Hartford

An archaeological Watching Brief was undertaken intermittently between 2013 -2016 during groundworks at Grange Farm, Hartford. Planning permission was granted for the construction of up to 300 dwellings, associated parking and the re-use of Grange Farmhouse. Historic research indicates that the site has remained undeveloped, lying in a rural setting throughout its history. Although there is no evidence for Roman activity on site, a Roman road is thought to be located along the southern extent of the site, at Chester Road. Hartford was a small farming community throughout the Medieval period and the site appears to have remained as agricultural fields from then and throughout the Post Medieval period. 100m north-east of the site boundary is the crash site of a WWII Albermarle Bomber, which crashed in 1944, killing Hartford local man Gerry Crowe, Flying Officer Ormiston and their Canadian pilot. The results of the Watching Brief attest to the land use throughout the Post Medieval period, with the land being predominantly sterile of features except waste pits, a culvert and the remains of an outbuilding associated with Grange Farm. The finds assemblage was only recovered from topsoil and relic ploughsoils, being residual in nature they are of limited interpretative value, however the discovery of small flint tools with debitage represents possible knapping within the vicinity of the site. (1)