Source/Archive record SCH8306 - Land Between Brook Street and Raby Road, Neston, Cheshire: A Post-Excavation Assessment Report

An archaeological excavation was undertaken between the 6th March and 9th April 2009 on land at Brook Street and Raby Road, Neston, as part of a mitigation process prior to re-development of the site. Previous archaeological work includes a desk-based assessment (ECH4433), also an evaluation comprising four trial trenches (ECH4507), both done in 2008. The aims of the excavation were to establish the extent of stone built, early post medieval foundations, revealed during the earlier trenching and to fully record all remains within the development area. The area investigated, formerly used as a car park, totalled some 1600 square metres. The excavation revealed evidence of activity from the early seventeenth century. Structural remains of a seventeenth/early eighteenth century modest farmhouse with associated cobble drive/road were recorded. Also dating to this phase were a sytem of probably enclosure ditches and potential quarry pits. The seventeenth century farmhouse was overlain by a large Victorian farmhouse with associated cobble/stone surfaces. Also recorded was an enclosed eighteenth century cobbled yard, potentially a stable or workshop, which was truncated by a twentieth century public toilet. A later Victorian stable associated with the farmhouse may have replaced the earlier yard. Also a substantial Victorian pit was found on the north of the site, indicating a shift in location of the quarrying activity from the east of the site to the north. There is some evidence for activity from the medieval period with two east-west ditches located in the north of the site, together with a closely located unstratified pit and post hole. These features may have their origins in the medieval period, but finds evidence indicates that they were still open in the early post medieval period. They may form part of a pre-enclosure field system. Fiind of medieval pottery and ceramic building material are significant and indicate medieval occupation in the locality. The remains of both the initial evaluation and subsequent excavation clearly illustrate the site's domestic use from the seventeenth century, although there are also some indications of potential activity in the medieval period. There is also evidence for a cottage industry of sand and sandstone quarrying throughout the post medieval period, unsurprising for a settlement built upon a natural sandstone outcrop.