Site Event/Activity record ECH7082 - Community Archaeological Excavation: Halton Castle, Runcorn

Salford Archaeology (SA) was commissioned by Norton Priory Museum and Gardens to undertake a second community archaeological excavation on the site of Halton Castle. The site is both a Scheduled Monument and the standing remains are also a Grade I listed building. This work formed the final part of the Heritage Lottery Funded Halton Castle Project to further assess the archaeological potential of the site and expand on the results of the 2015 excavation. The aims of the work were to investigate the possibility of structures in the outer bailey, to assess the potential for further burials and contextualise those uncovered in the previous excavation. The excavation, a 25.00m x 20.00m area located within the north-east quadrant of the outer bailey area, was aligned north-east/south-west and targeted the area surrounding and to the east of two burials found in Trench 2 in 2015, also the northern side of the outer bailey courtyard and structures associated with a possible northern tower identified in both 1986/7 and 2015. As this work formed an addition to the 2015 excavation, the trench numbering follows that sequence, therefore the 2017 open area was designated Trench 3 (2017). Within Area 1 at the south-western end of the trench, the remains of the stone D-shaped tower wall and base found by McNeill were re-excavated along with another substantial wall found in 2015. To the south of these features lay a levelled bedrock platform created by a linear cut to the north and east which had been built on to the west by a 1940s brick Nissan Hut. On the western side of the trench in Area 2, a series of three rectangular pits cut into the bedrock were identified; one of these cut an earlier linear feature also cut into the bedrock. Sealed contexts discovered within the rectangular pits date to the 14th century. A large circular posthole, found close to the pits, closely resembled others found during the 2015 excavation. Many of the remains uncovered were interpreted as relating to successive phases of occupation between the 13th and 16th centuries and are thought to relate to working buildings, possibly for the preparation or manufacture of pottery which occupied the main part of the outer bailey. No further burials were uncovered during the excavation, despite investigation to the north-east of those found in 2015. (1) See ECH6312, SCH8174 (R3964) for details of the 2015 season of excavation. (2)