Landscape record 438/14/3 - Site of 18th century garden to Bank Hall, Warrington

<1> Gifford and Partners, 2004, Land at Bank Park, Warrington: An Archaeological Desk-based Assessment, R2541 (Client Report). SCH4595.

Bank Hall was built in 1750 for Thomas Patten in open countryside on the northern side of Sankey Street, near to his copper works. By 1797 his copperworks had fallen into disuse and Bank Hall was later used by the council as a Town Hall.

Historic maps listed as sources are reproduced in this report.

<2> Walworth and Donbavand, 1772, Walworth and Donbavand - A Plan of the Town of Warrington in the County Palantine of Lancaster (Maps and Plans). SCH4483.

18th century plans show the outline of the original garden to Bank Hall with formal structure to the north of the house and an area of ponds at the northern end of the site.

<3> Hall, 1826, Hall 1826 - This plan of the town of Warrington in the year 1826 (Maps and Plans). SCH4484.

Bank Hall and gardens can be seen on this map. the layout of the paths has changed since the earlier map depiction and a large single water feature can be seen to the north

<4> Ordnance Survey, 1850-1, Five-feet to the Mile Scale Town Plan of Warrington (Maps and Plans). SCH4485.

This mid century map shows the gardens surrounding Bank Hall

<5> Ordnance Survey, 1893-96, Ordnance Survey County Series (Epoch 1) 25 inch to 1 mile - Lancashire (Maps and Plans). SCH3847.

This map shows the garden have expanded to the west into a large park around what is now the Town Hall.

<6> Liverpool Museum Field Archaeology Unit, 2013, An Archaeological Watching Brief at Bank Park, Warrington (Client Report). SCH7099.

in 2013 a watching brief was carried out on the site of a structure that stood at the northern tip of the former lake in Bank Park, (SJ 602 884)prior to the re-developmentof the site. The Watching Brief was confined to the site of a rectangular building sited immediately adjacent ot the northern edge of a fishpond, both features are shown on historic mapping of the area, first appearing on the 1st edition 6 inch to 1 mile Ordnance Survey map of 1849.

Excavation consisted of a single area measuring 15 by 12m at the eastern end of the development. An upper deposit of 20th century made ground was found to cover the whole area.

The excavation exposed a group of walls constructed in blocks of copper slag which were the foundations of a "pump house" shown on 1890's mapping. However large sections of foundations had been destroyed by a modern ( about 1980) drainage system and the buildings precise form was difficult to identify from the surviving remains. The northern most extent of the parks original fishpond was also located. No evidence for the buildings function survived, though map evidence suggests that it primarily served as a shelter.

The copper slag block can almost certainly be traced to the copper works at Bank Quay, Warrington, owned by Thomas Patten. Although no direct dating evidence was found for the construction of the building, the use of copper slag foundations suggest that it predates the closure of the Bank Quay copper works prior to 1795. The foundations of Bank Hall are built using identical material.

The use of copper slag as a building material originated in the mid 18th century when the industrialisation of copper production resulted in the production of large quantities of copper slag. This could be cast into blocks for use as a construction material thus making use of what was otherwise a waste product though its extensive use in domestic dwellings was rare. The blocks were impermeable to air and moisture which resulted in cold and damp dwellings. Instead it was generally used for foundations, retaining walls and occasionally decorative features.