Site Event/Activity record ECH6543 - Archaeological Desk-based Assessment of Land at Holmes Chapel Road, Middlewich, Cheshire

Desk-based assessment produced in July 2016 in support of a proposed new development of houses on land at Holmes Chapel Road, Middlewich. The study also included walkover field survey. Research for the desk-based assessment indicates that two ring ditches are situated in the western part of the Site. These may be the remains of Bronze Age round barrows that have been levelled through ploughing from the medieval period onwards. A possible trackway suggests further prehistoric activity in this part of the Site. While there is no direct evidence of Roman activity within the Site, Roman coins and brooches were recovered from spoil that was dumped in the southern part of the Site during the construction of Centurion Way. The Roman road from Middlewich to Buxton may have run south-west/north-east through part of the Site, while several further Roman heritage assets are recorded within 100m of the Site. Given the extent of Roman activity in the immediate vicinity, the presence of previously unrecorded Roman remains within the Site itself cannot be ruled out. Kinderton Hall medieval moated site is a Scheduled Monument located approximately 115m to the west of the Site. A small area in the Site’s north-west corner lies within the Scheduled area and previously unrecorded features associated with the moated site may extend into the Site itself. Given its proximity to the medieval hall, the Site may have included seignurial demesne land during this period. A Royalist army was billeted on the Kinderton Hall estate during the Civil War. This force engaged a Parliamentarian army at the Second Battle of Middlewich in 1643. While it is possible that the Royalist soldiers had been encamped within the Site, this cannot be demonstrated on the basis of the current evidence. The Site formed part of the field system of Kinderton Hall Farm during the 18th century and has remained in agricultural use to the present day. Field boundaries, land drains and ponds are the only features known to have been present within the Site during these periods. (1)