Site Event/Activity record ECH6768 - An Historic Desk-Based Assessment of Land bounded by Tanners Lane/Winwick Street and Foundry Lane, Warrington

An historic environment desk-based assessment was produced in 2019 in support of a planning application for a mixed use residential and hotel development with associated car parking and landscaping on land bounded by Tanners Lane/Winwick Street and Foundry Lane, Warrington, Cheshire (Sites A and B). During the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the sites were occupied by two tanneries, Guest’s Tannery and Foundry Street Tannery, as well as different types of workers’ housing, a public house, a malthouse and railway structures. The structures within the sites were demolished at various points throughout the mid-late twentieth century and the sites were left vacant, most recently being used as car parks. A site walkover identified areas of hardstanding and wall foundations associated with the former buildings across Site A and as such it is likely that the buildings were only demolished to ground level. It is therefore considered likely that below ground remains associated with the former tanneries and workers’ housing will be present on the site. It is recommended that a scheme of trial trenching be undertaken across Site A and, depending on the results of the trial trenching, it may be appropriate to carry out targeted open area excavation and/or an archaeological watching brief to further record any significant archaeological remains as part of a mitigation strategy prior to the commencement of any development works. (1)