Monument record 15828 - Three human burials, Dallam Lane, Warrington

<1> University of Salford (Centre for Applied Archaeology), 2022, Archaeological Watching Brief: Warrington Youth Zone, Dallam Lane, Warrington, R4678 (Client Report). SCH9402.

An archaeological watching brief was undertaken in 2021/2022 during the redevelopment of land at Foundry Street and Dallam Lane, Warrington, and was targeted primarily on the footprint of an eighteenth/nineteenth century iron foundry (CHER 4244/50/0). Monitoring included the excavation of eight trial pits, followed by ground-reduction works to a depth of up to 1.40m across the majority of the site. Although very little survived of the iron foundry, human remains were discovered during the excavation of a large pit for an attenuation tank. Three inhumations, all in supine extended positions in a west to east or north-west to south-east alignment, were encountered. Two of the skeletons (Sk 001 and Sk 002) were interred in a double grave, while the third (Sk 003) was a single burial. The skeletons were between 50% and 65% complete, but the bones that survived were in excellent condition and only slightly fragmented.

Analysis of the bones (see source 2) concluded that one skeleton (Sk 001) was a mature adult female that was dated by radiocarbon assay to AD1600-63. The skull bore five peri-mortem (at death) blade injuries, four of which affected the back and left side of her skull and were superficial, while the fifth targeted the left side of her forehead and cheek and was fatal. She shared a grave with the skeleton of a young adult male (Sk 002), dated by radiocarbon assay to AD1602-54, and therefore broadly contemporary. The third skeleton (Sk 003) was that of a young middle adult, possibly male, who had mild developmental anomalies of the spine as well as lesions indicative of axial stress in the spine. The skeleton was dated by radiocarbon assay to AD1354-1437, and was therefore some two centuries earlier than the other two skeletons.

A pit located to the north-west of the dual burial may be associated. It had concave sides and a flat base, measuring 0.55 by 0.50m with a depth of 0.11m. It is likely that the feature had been truncated, possibly by as much as 0.40m. No artefactual material was recovered from the pit, however, at the base of the pit were the vestiges of several overlapping cloven planks of wood, perhaps representing the remains of a coffin.

There is no documentary evidence to indicate that the site had ever been used as a formal graveyard, and the reasons for the presence of the skeletons has yet to be determined. It is known from documentary sources that the site was developed in the mid-18th century, so if the site had been used as a burial ground, this knowledge could have been forgotten by this time. It seems quite possible in the light of the horrific injuries sustained by the female and the date ranges returned from radiocarbon analysis that two of the skeletons had been victims of a skirmish during the English Civil War. Conversely, 17th-century epidemics are known to have had an impact on Warrington, such as typhus, which caused the deaths of 257 people in 1622, although death from disease does not account for the injuries recorded on the female skeleton.

<2> York Osteoarchaeology Ltd, 2021, Osteological Analysis Warrington Youth Zone, Warrington, R4645 (Client Report). SCH9307.

<3> Various, Various, Oral communication to the HER, E-mail correspondence, 07/08/2023, H.White (Warrington Museum and Art Gallery) (Oral Communication). SCH2330.

Bone samples (auditory ossicles) from skeletons Sk 001 and Sk 003 were analysed by York Osteoarchaeology to assess DNA preservation and also to obtain an estimate of the genetic sex of the skeleton (presence of a Y chromosome). For both Sk 001 and Sk 003 the sex estimate was male. Earlier osteological assessment of Sk 001 had indicated a female, though this method of sexing can occasionally produce erroneous results, especially considering the head injuries sustained by Sk 001.