Site Event/Activity record ECH6816 - Holly House, Well Street, Malpas: Archaeological Watching Brief Report

An archaeological watching brief was undertaken in 2019 at Holly House, Well Street, Malpas, Cheshire. The site lies within the historic Medieval core of Malpas, falling partly within the Malpas Conservation Area and wholly within the Malpas Area of Archaeological Potential. There are no heritage assets within the site, however, a proposed Roman Road lies to the west of the site and multiple listed buildings are within a 500m radius of the site. Above the weathered sandstone bedrock a deep homogenous deposit that was probably a Medieval cultivation soil covered the site. At some point after the formation of the Medieval cultivation soil a sandstone wall was constructed on the southern site boundary in order to formalise a (possibly natural) terrace. However, sometime after circa 1680 this sandstone wall was no longer serving a function and was buried beneath a series of deliberate tips of clay and sandstone brash. Subsequently, a cobbled surface was laid above the tipped deposits along the line of Well Street. Several small pits with no clear function were excavated in to the Medieval cultivation soil on the site during the Post Medieval period. During the 18th/19th century a topsoil deposit formed across much of the site. During the 20th century a sewer was laid across the site to Well Street and the southern retaining wall was rebuilt in brick and concrete. (1)