Source/Archive record SCH5386 - Land at Sandbach, Cheshire East, Archaeological Desk Based Assessment

In August 2008, Fox Land and Property commissioned Oxford Archaeology North (OA North) to carry out an archaeological desk-based assessment of a site to the west of Sandbach in Cheshire (NGR SJ 74540 60620). The principal aim of the assessment was to identify, as far as possible, the nature and significance of the cultural heritage and sub-surface archaeological resource within the study area, and to establish the impact of any future development upon this resource. The report was updated in August 2010 to be in line with the latest national planning polices on the conservation of the historic environment. These are set out in Planning Policy Statement PPS 5 Planning for the Historic Environment, which was published by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) in March 2010. In total, 30 sites of archaeological interest were identified during the desk-based assessment, of which three had been previously recorded in the Cheshire Historic Environment Record (HER), including a Grade II listed building (Site 03), although this lies immediately beyond the boundary of the study area. The other 27 sites (Sites 04-30) were identified through analysis of historical maps. The 30 identified sites comprised two Roman sites, and 23 post-medieval/industrial period sites. Of these sites, 13 were deemed likely to be affected by any future development of the site, including a Roman road (Site 01), 12 field boundaries (Sites 14-23), two small buildings shown on a tithe map of 1841 (Site 06), a former pond (Site 28), and a track or drive (Site 10) associated with Abbeyfields (Site 03), a large house dating to c 1800. The projected route of King Street, the Roman road (Site 01) which linked Middlewich to Chesterton, is thought to be on the approximate line of Middlewich Road, to the north of the study area. However, the precise line of the road in this area has not been confirmed and could therefore be located south of its projected route, within the study area. Similarly, the possibility for roadside features of Roman date to survive within the study area cannot be discounted. A tithe map of 1841 shows a house named at this time as Abbey Field House (Site 03), with associated grounds including a large pond, situated immediately to the south-east of the study area. The listing for this property dates it to c 1800, but states that it is thought to have replaced an earlier building. The name ‘Abbey’ associated with the house and the road to its west, as well as fields within the tithe award, are a result of this land having previously been owned by Dieulacres Abbey in Leek, Staffordshire. This area is likely to have been used for agriculture since the mid-thirteenth century when it first became abbey land. The area immediately surrounding the house is depicted as park by the time of the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1874, and by the time of the 1898 mapping the majority of field boundaries shown on the tithe had been removed. Recommendations were made for evaluation trenching which should target the northern part of the study area, to test for remains of the Roman road (Site 01) or associated features. In addition, evaluation trenches should be located on the site of the former buildings (Site 06) shown on the tithe map, and some relic field boundaries to establish the potential for palaeo-environmental evidence.