Site Event/Activity record ECH7256 - Archaeological Assessment at Chelford Road, Henbury

A watching brief was undertaken in 2022-3 during the construction and development of residential buildings, and associated infrastructure and landscaping works at Chelford Road, Henbury. A prior geotechnical investigation had been undertaken in 2017 (ECH6437, SCH8326, see source 2) which identified an initial sedimentary profile for the site. This was followed by a geoarchaeological assessment in 2021 (ECH7202, SCH9458, see source 3). These studies determined a sedimentary profile composed predominantly of clayey gravelly fine to medium sand, interspersed with three broad concentrations of organic sediment which were each underlain by soft silty clay. Two of these concentrations were located within two peat-filled low-lying depressions; a northern and a south-eastern depression (CHER 15891). A third broad organic spread was located within the south-western portion of the site and curved eastwards through the southern area of the site towards the south-eastern basin. This third organic spread was only identified by the 2017 geotechnical investigation using mechanical apparatus, whereas it was inaccessible during the later geoarchaeological assessment using hand-operated auger equipment as it was overlain by around half a meter of poorly sorted sand. A full organic sedimentary sequence (some 3.5m in depth) was recovered from the south-eastern wetland basin whereas, for the northern basin, only the uppermost 1.5m was recovered. Four samples from the peat were radio-carbon dated, three samples from the south-eastern basin and one from the northern basin. Palaeoenvironmental analysis of the 2021 auger samples showed that the recovered pollen sequence, which spans from the early and mid-Holocene, demonstrates vegetational succession driven by broad and natural climatic influences. This sequence of succession is no different to what can be observed within many regional and national records. However, what is notable at Chelford Road is an absence of evidence for localised human activity. This contrasts with a number of similar palaeoenvironmental records within the region. The two largest palaeoenvironmental records in eastern Cheshire, Danes and Lindow Mosses, both display evidence for anthropogenic clearance events during the Mesolithic. Beyond these larger records, smaller wetland basins commonly display evidence for human clearance events, such as at Walkers Heath where an early clearance event is noted alongside microcharcoal concentrations ending the dominance of the early birch woodlands. (SCH9569, see source 4) The watching brief was aimed at monitoring construction works and its possible impact on archaeological deposits within the wetland basins that had been identified, however, no evidence of any significant archaeological deposits were encountered during the development. (Source 1)