Monument record 14048 - Site of Late Eighteenth/Nineteenth Century Farm Complex, Shirdfold Farm, Adlington

<1> Oxford Archaeology North, 2017, Woodford Aerodrome, Adlington, Cheshire: Archaeological Evaluation, Strip Map and Record and Watching Brief Report, R4069 (Client Report). SCH8325.

An archaeological strip, map and record evaluation was undertaken in 2016-17 on the site of farm buildings, depicted on the Tithe Map of 1850, at Shirdfold Farm. The farm appears as a dispersed farmstead, with five building ranges loosely arranged around a central courtyard. To the north lay a farmhouse with an orchard beyond, while to the south, at least two of the buildings appeared to have been built to an L-shaped plan. This basic layout remained largely unaltered until the middle of the twentieth century, however, the complex underwent significant rebuilding after 1954 with the demolition of the majority of the buildings and the construction of several large, rectangular sheds.

The foundations of a building, forming part of the nineteenth century farm complex, were recorded. The building appeared to be ancillary to the main house and demonstrated multiple phasing with the fully developed plan achieved by 1850. The character of the brick, together with the multiple phasing, suggests a date of construction between the late eighteenth to nineteenth centuries. Immediately to the south of the building, the area appears to have been undisturbed. Fragments of flooring and a length of brick wall identified to the south and west of this area are likely to belong to one of the farm’s out buildings.