Site Event/Activity record ECH6716 - Archaeological Watching Brief Report: Academy Way, Warrington

An archaeological watching brief was undertaken in June 2019 in support of an application to re-develop land on Academy Way, Warrington. The work followed on from a desk-based assessment which identified that the area may have been a part of a burgage plot that developed along Buttermarket Street during the later medieval period. The watching brief focused on the the northern part of the site beneath the modern concrete raft for the former supermarket. Trenches 1 and 2 were both aligned east-north-east/west-south-west and measured some 20m by 1.5m-1.8m. The trenches targeted the footprint of a row of buildings shown on the Ordnance Survey Town Plan of 1851 fronting onto Buttermarket Street. Both trenches recorded the natural clay geology at depths between 1.0m-1.2m; additionally, in both trenches, the natural was overlain directly by twentieth century demolition material, with all archaeological remains and deposits removed. The exception to this was in Trench 2 where two worked sandstone blocks, one on top of the other, were seen in the south-facing section. The surface of the uppermost block lay immediately beneath the modern concrete raft for the former supermarket. Fragments of a third stone block lay within the adjacent layer of demolition rubble. The two stacked, stone blocks appeared to have been set in a foundation cut, creating a wall that was aligned approximately north/south, and probably formed the vestiges of a building that fronted onto Buttermarket Street. Although Trench 3 was located further to the south, the results of the watching brief were much the same, with twentieth century demolition material overlying the natural clay geology, the only exception being a fragment of brick wall of probably late nineteenth/early twentieth century date. Upon completion of the initial trenches, the archaeological watching brief was maintained during the removal of the modern ground surface and associated groundreduction works. As with the initial trenches, this revealed the made ground, consisting of twentieth century demolition rubble, overlying the natural clay geology. No remains of archaeological interest were present. (1)