Site Event/Activity record ECH6756 - Loushers Lane, Warrington: Archaeological Desk-based Assessment, 2019

An archaeological desk-based assessment was produced in 2019 for land at Loushers Lane in support of a planning application for a proposed residential development. The site does not contain any designated heritage assets. The report concludes that, despite the proximity of the extensive Roman settlement at Wilderspool immediately to the south, the absence of material from this site and its past waterlogged condition would have made it unattractive for settlement prior to reclamation. This conclusion is felt to be equally applicable to earlier and later periods. The report also concludes that the site has a high potential for palaeoenvironmental deposits. It draws attention to the work done on the peat deposits as a result of the large housing development to the south of Loushers Lane. However, it should be noted that these deposits were associated with the Lumb brook, an extinct tributary of the Mersey which formerly drained into the Mersey close to the junction of Louchers Lane and Wilderspool Causeway, before it was extinguished by the redundant canal and the subsequent construction of the Manchester Ship Canal. Any alluvial deposits within the present site are associated with the flood plain of the Mersey and recent work at in Warrington has revealed that these deposits do not appear to be associated with peat, except at depths which will not be affected by the proposed development. (1)