Monument record 4510 - Site of The Dingle Hotel, Lymm

<1> Gifford and Partners, 1997, An Archaeological Building Recording of the Dingle Hotel, Lymm, R2183 (Client Report). SCH4038.

A desk-based assessment and building survey was undertaken in 1997 at the Dingle Hotel, Lymm, prior to proposed development. The study illustrates that the Dingle Hotel building was present on site in 1773 and there is an implication that a rectory referred to in a 1663 terrier was situated on the same site. References to a barn and associated oubuildings are also present in the 1663 terrier. The walk through survey identified architectural features at the hotel dating to the late seventeenth/early eighteenth century, and it is thought possible that the earlier seventeenth century rectory could be incorporated into the eighteenth century structure of the hotel.

<2> Giffords Consulting Engineers (Chester), 1997, An Archaeological/Structural Analysis of the Dingle Hotel, Lymm, R2204 (Client Report). SCH4025.

A further architectural study/structural analysis of the Dingle Hotel, was undertaken in 1997. This concluded that the historic elements of the Dingle Hotel cannot be justifiably retained within the proposed residential development on the grounds of its architectural or characteristic significance.

<3> Giffords Consulting Engineers (Chester), 1998, Report on an Archaeological Watching Brief at the Dingle Hotel, Lymm, R2263 (Client Report). SCH3984.

Following on from the earlier studies produced for the Dingle Hotel (see sources 1 and 2), an archaeological watching brief was undertaken in 1998, prior to, and during, ground works and building dismantling works in relation to the residential development of the site. Previous work had determined that the central core of the hotel dated to the eighteenth century and appeared to incorporate elements of a seventeenth century timber-framed structure. Also, to the east of the hotel, an L-shaped barn was depicted on nineteenth century historic mapping, which may survive beneath the current tarmac surface. The watching brief monitored the removal of the tarmac surface, the excavation of the strip foundations for the housing plots, also the dismantling of the hotel building.

The dismantling of the hotel revealed that the timber-framing that had been previously identified at ground level continued the full height of the building and supported the two wooden trusses. The timber-framing and lathe and daub infill were clearly integral to the original design of the building, suggesting a construction date in the late seventeenth/early eighteenth century. The composition of the buildings' superstructure, dating to the Victorian period, was of poor quality, comprising an array of re-used timbers cobbled together to form trusses and purlins.

During the groundworks, two open cellars were observed, one contemporary with the eighteenth century core, and the second, a later insertion associated with the building's conversion into a public house. Furthermore, a series of possible infilled cellars of nineteenth century date were identified along the south-western side of the site.

No remains of the nineteenth century L-shaped barn were identified beneath the tarmac surface, although areas of cobbling suggested the preservation of yard surfaces and the location of a driveway and path.

(See also source 4 for a summary of the findings of the watching brief.)

<4> Project Summary Sheet, The Dingle Hotel Watching Brief (Unpublished Report). SCH4566.

<5> Dingle Hotel, Lymm, Dingele Hotel, Lymm (Unpublished Report). SCH4568.