Monument record 14141 - Eighteenth Century Cottage/Farmstead, North of Heath Road

<1> York Archaeological Trust, 2012, Land at Heath Road, Sandbach, Cheshire East: Desk-Based Assessment (Client Report). SCH7001.

A desk-based assessment was undertaken in 2012 on land to the north of Heath Road, Sandbach, in advance of a residential development. It demonstrated that the only known historical features recorded within the proposed development area related to enclosure (in the form of earlier field boundaries), together with a small building recorded on the tithe map of 1836–51. The apportionment accompanying the tithe map records this plot as cottages and gardens under the ownership of Lord Crewe. The subsequent OS map of 1875 revealed that these cottages were demolished sometime between 1851 and 1875, the former site of the buildings being indicated by a well; the well itself disappeared sometime between 1882 and 1898.

<2> Earthworks Archaeological Services, 2017, Land off Hawthorne Drive, Sandbach, Cheshire: An Archaeological Strip & Map Excavation (Client Report). SCH8357.

An archaeological evaluation undertaken in 2017 targeted the area of the former building highlighted by the earlier desk-based assessment (see source 1). The aim of the evaluation was to expose, sample excavate and record any surviving remains of the former building and, if possible, establish a chronology for its development and occupation. A series of post holes and associated deposits were excavated indicating the presence of two phases of building.

The phase 1 building was defined by fourteen postholes, defining a building measuring approximately 20m north-east to south-west and approximately 9m wide. The evidence encountered strongly suggests that this building was constructed from earthfast timber posts set within sub-circular postholes, each measuring from approximately 0.4m in diameter upwards. The postholes were generally evenly spaced around the postulated perimeter of the of building’s footprint. Most of these postholes contained similar fills of brown silt-sand. No internal features to the building were encountered, such as floor surfaces, hearths, or internal divisions. Pottery recovered from the postholes, suggest that the building was standing by the middle of the eighteenth century. Located approximately 5m to the northeast of the building were the partial, heavily-truncated, remains of a subterranean, brick-walled structure interpreted as a probable soakaway, cistern or tank.

Occupying more or less the same footprint, the phase 2 building incorporated further postholes, primarily to the north-east, south-east and the south-west sides; additionally a single posthole was located off-centre within the building. Although sub-circular postholes were again excavated during this phase, the building also incorporated postholes, or pits, that were rectangular in plan. Internally, close to the west corner of the phase 2 building, were the remains of a probable ash pit or similar feature associated with an oven or hearth. In plan, the remains of this feature comprised a straight sided open U-shaped structure, measuring approximately 0.6m wide by 0.7m long, constructed from red brick and a single piece of stone.

The evidence encountered suggested that the building was probably erected during the eighteenth century and underwent major repairs during its lifetime before finally being demolished around the middle of the nineteenth century. The earliest features encountered included several pits, possibly for sand extraction, from which finds dating to the seventeenth century were recovered.