Monument record 576 - Cropmark Enclosure at Hermitage Farm

<1> Ordnance Survey, Various, Ordnance Survey Aerial Photographs, 66/68/005-7 15/05/1966 (Aerial Photograph). SCH8310.

Cropmark of a double-ditched rectangular enclosure visible on aerial photographs.

<2> Ordnance Survey, 1870-1982, Ordnance Survey Archaeological Record Card, SJ69 SW 21 (Index). SCH2487.

<3> Cheshire Historic Environment Record, 1990-2001, Jill Collens and Rob Philpott's Aerial Photographs, 3.1902 & 3.1903 23/08/1995 (Aerial Photograph). SCH5403.

Rectangular double- ditched enclosure with sharp corners recorded during aerial reconnaissance 23/8/95

<4> Matrix Archaeology, 2001, Archaeological Evaluation: Land to the South of St. Oswald's Brook, Hermitage Green, Warrington (Client Report). SCH4384.

This feature was subject to evaluation in 2001 consisting of 6 trenches totaling 381 square meters (c.5% of the site).
The construction of the two ditches appear to be separated by at least several years. The primary fill of the inner ditch contained no finds but showed that the ditch fill had developed in a waterlogged environment with at least patial colonisation by trees. The upper fills contained late medieval to early post medieval pottery and hand made brick fragments suggesting a building nearby, possibly within the enclosure. The later ditch contained later post medieval pottery and it's placement was possibly affected by the earlier ditch suggesting that it was still present as an earthwork.
The enclosure seems to have survived a long period without ploughing suggesting that it was a substantial earthwork until recently or that it was not ploughed for "intangible 'cultural' reasons of repect for an early site".
The enclosure possibly contained a building, however it is unclear as to what it may have contained as large portions of the enclosure remain unexcavated, however the excavated portions contained no sign of buildings and little signs of an inner mound. The enclosure is half the size expected for a medieval moat and the inner ditch was circa 5m across by circa 1.2m deep.
Several possibilities arise for the purpose of the enclosure; as a late prehistoric enclosure; a stock enclosure; or an enclosure around a hunting lodge or park-keepers lodge. It may also have been a 'Wars of the Roses' temporary camp, or a military construction of other origins as the region has held military strategic importance since at least the roman period

<5> Various, Various, Oral communication to the HER, Unknown (Oral Communication). SCH2330.

The indicated site north of Hermitage Farm is pasture; no trace of earthworks were seen.

<6> Environment Agency, 2003-2020, Environment Agency LiDAR Surveys, 1m DSM Composite (WMS) (Digital Archive). SCH7819.

LIDAR survey indicates that this site survives as a slight earthwork.