An Archaeological Test Pit in Fox Lane, Leyland

Contents

1. Introduction 1.1 VSMP Test Pitting Project Rationale 1.2 Site location and geology 2. Archaeological and Historical Background 2.1 Prehistoric 2.2 Roman 2.3 Medieval 2.4 Post-medieval and Modern 2.6 Previous archaeological work 3. Aims and Methodology 4. Finds 5. Interpretation 6. Bibliography 7. Acknowledgements 8. Appendices

1. Introduction 1.1 VSMP Test Pitting Project Rationale

1.1.1 Waterloo Uncovered, a registered UK charity, was founded in 2015. Established the same year as the bicentenary of the Battle of Waterloo, it aims to conduct the first ever major archaeological excavation of the Waterloo Battlefield, and to provide support to the veteran and serving military communities. 1.1.2 Since its start, WU has supported over 100 Veteran and Serving Military Personnel (VSMP) and conducted over 10 weeks systematic, academically robust archaeology in Belgium. As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, a special 12 week virtual programme was developed to support the 2020 cohort. The content of the programme focused on building skills and knowledge around archaeological and historical research, using 1.2 Site location and geology 1.2.1 The site is located in Fox Lane, Leyland, PR25 1HD. 1.2.2 The underlying geology of the site is Sherwood Sandstone Group, described as Singleton Mudstone (BGS 2020). It is named afted the Lancashire village. Mudstone is a fine sedimentary rock, which was originally mud or clay. This is overlain by till “unsorted and unstratified drift, generally overconsolidated, deposited directly by and underneath a glacier without subsequent reworking by water from the glacier. It consists of a heterogenous mixture of clay, sand, gravel, and boulders varying widely in size and shape (diamicton)” (BGS 2020). The British Geographical Survey doesn’t give any depths for the geological layers in the area. 1.2.3 The Mosses surrounding Leyland (South Ribble Museum and Exhibition Centre, 2020a) are likely to have influenced the use of the area in the past. 2. Archaeological and Historical Background 2.1 Prehistoric 2.1.1 There are no known prehistoric sites within the Leyland urban area as recorded in the Historic Town Assessment Report (Clark 2007, 5). Owen suggests that this is due to the lowland nature of the area, characterised by the mosses and poor drainage, being more suited to subsistance activities which leave no mark archaeologically (2017, 9). 2.2 Roman 2.2.1 David Ratledge suggests that the Roman “coastal” Wigan to Walton-le-Dale road ran North-South to the west of Leyland in the area of Turpin Green (2018). Excavations in Cuerdon Green found a “well-preserved section” of the road confirming the likely route of the road north of Leyland (Cook et al 2018, 1). 2.2.2 The Worden/Leyland Hoard Monument No. 42639 (Pastscape 2015a) was found in 1850 and contained 126 coins. The coins dated to the 3

rd Century, representing “emperors who reigned between

AD 259 and AD 282” (South Ribble Museum and Exhibition Centre, 2020b). The site was to the south of St Andrew’s Church (ibid). 2.2.3 A reputedly Roman finger ring was in the possession of Miss ffarington of Worden Hall. The details of the date (prior to 1860) and location of its discovery were not known and its identification as Roman is uncertain (Pastscape 2015b). 2.2.4 In 1983 in a garden in Fox Lane, a coin dating to the reign of Emperor Constans (340-350AD) was found (Museum Ref: 1983/201). It is now in the South Ribble Museum and Exhibition Centre (South Ribble Museum and Exhibition Centre, 2020c). 2.2.5 There is a slight possibility of Roman remains on the site.

2.3 Medieval 2.3.1 Leyland is mentioned in the Domesday book. There was a “population of 27 households” and it was owned by Roger of Poitou (Palmer and Powell-Smith 2020). 2.3.2 St Andrew’s Church on Church Road consists of a chancel from 1220 (South Ribble Borough Council 2014. 8), 15

th century west tower, and nave built in 1817 (Historic England 2020a). Works on

the church in 1852 might have brought to light earlier remains from the 1100s (Clarke 2007, 5). 2.3.3 The nave of St Andrew’s provides a intruiging link to Waterloo, having been built by a Mr Longworth who reputedly fought at Waterloo (Bannister 1982, 3). The Victoria County History acknowledges this to be hearsay “it is said to have been designed by a Mr. Longworth, who, however, was 'more celebrated as a combatant at Waterloo than as a skilled and competent architect'” (Farrer and Brownbill 1911). An article in the Lancashire and Cheshire History Society journal, by Miss ffarington calls this into question as she refers to “an inferior hand named Longworth” (Miss ffarington 1855, 19*). Research suggests the architect in question is likely to be James Longworth of Liverpool who also worked on Holy Trinity Church in Preston. 2.3.4 It has been suggested that the Medieval village is likely to have been dispersed around the area of modern Leyland (Clarke 2007, 5). 2.4 Post-medieval and Modern 2.4.1 Leyland’s development accelerated during the post medieval and modern period. The core of the village is covered by the Leyland Cross Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan, which attibutes this change to developments in agricultural and weaving technologies (South Ribble Borough Council 2014, 7). The site falls just outside this area. 2.4.2 The Leyland Grammar School was founded by Sir Henry ffarington in 1524, with a dedicated building built in the corner of St Andrew’s Churchyard between 1580 and 1620 (South Ribble Borough Council 2014, 9). 2.4.3 Textile production is evidenced by the weaver’s cottages, numbers 10-60 Fox Lane (South Ribble Borough Council 2014, 19) which were built in or before 1802 (Historic England, 2020b). 2.4.4 Within the conservation area, several of the buildings are dedicated to the care of the poor of the parish. The original Farington almshouses stood in Leyland Lane, built by William Farington, “reputedly 1649”, but were moved to Fox Lane (numbers 102-112) in 1849 (Historic England, 2020c). Farington Almshouse Trust Cottages, numbers 92, 94, 96, 98, l00 Fox Lane, were endowed by the Susan Maria and Mary Hannah Farington in 1852 and 1866 (Leyland Historical Society, 2020). John Osbaldeston of Chiswick left £500 to be invested in almshouses, originally built in Cow Lane but moved to Fox Lane in 1870 (South Ribble Borough Council 2014, 12). The Ryley Almshouses were built in 1887 (South Ribble Borough Council 2014, 13). 2.4.5 The site itself is the garden of a 1930s semi detached house. Ordnance Survey maps (appendices) show that the site is likely to have been agrucultural land until its development in the 1930s. There is the strong possibility of finds relating to the construction and occupation of the house. 2.5 Previous archaeological work 2.5.1 A watching brief at the site of the Central Waste Treatment Facility found no archaeological features (Clarke 2007). 2.5.2 Excavations in Leyland Lane/Shaw Brook Road found a field boundary ditch and finds from the 19

th century and modern period (Mounsey 2019).

2.5.3. A watching brief in Worden Road recorded the remains of 3 18

th century dwellings (Trippier

2004).

3. Aims and Methodology 3.1.1 Test pitting aims The project aimed to:

to contribute to the archaeological knowledge in the local area of 2 of our VSMP

to provide a practical learning focus for the 2020 VSMP cohort as a whole

to provide a focus for team working, contributing to WU support for the VSMP through the Covid-19 pandemic

3.1.2 Test pit methods Desk based assessment tasks were carried out by the VSMP cohort. They worked in their teams to find background information via online resources to inform the interpretation of the test pits. Test pitting was managed virtually by professional archaeologist supervisors who usually work on site in Belgium. Three supervisors were available to each test pit team. They helped the VSMP to make decisions about excavation and recording. The test pit was excavated on 11

th July 2020.

Test pits were :

1mx1m

excavated and recorded in 10cm spits

recorded by photograph

recording via forms in our Google Classroom environment, which allowed instant centralised collection and management of the data

No archaeological features were encountered. Two 10cm spits were excavated and recorded. Following excavation and recording, the test pit was back-filled and the turf re-instated. 4. Results 4.1 The first layer was a mid brownish brown sandy silt matrix, with around 20% gravel inclusions. There was a piece of ceramic buildng material, which looks to be quite highly abraded.

4.2 The second layer was a mid brownish brown sandy silt matrix, with around 50% gravel inclusions.

4.3 In terms of material culture, this layer produced more finds: anthracite coal, 2 pieces of glazed ceramic, a piece of a glass bottle with embossed print and a piece of tile.

4.4 The section of the test pit confirms that the layers are likely to form part of the same archaeological context, possibly made up ground from the construction of the house or garden.

5. Discussion The test pit was excavated to 20cm. It is possible that earlier archaeological material exists on the site. The artefacts recovered represent the 19

th and 20

th centuries, most likely related to the construction and

occupation of the house. 6. Bibliography Bannister, N. 1982. St Andrew’s Church. The Journal of the Leyland Historical Society. 29: 3-5 BGS 2020. Geology of Britain 3D. Last accessed 23/7/20: http://mapapps.bgs.ac.uk/geologyofbritain3d/ Clarke, S. 2007. The Central Waste Treatment Facility, Lancashire Business Park , Leyland , Lancashire. Archaeological Watching Brief. Oxford Archaeology North. Cook, O., Miller, I. and Rowe, S. 2018. Post-excavation Assessment. Cuerden Strategic Site, Cuerden Green, South Ribble, Lancashire. SA/2018/53. Salford Archaeology. Farrer, W. and Brownbill, J. 1911. The parish of Leyland in: A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 6, London: Victoria County History, 3-10. British History Online. Last accessed July 22, 2020, http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol6/pp3-10. Historic England, 2020a. St Andrew’s Church Last accessed 21/7/20: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1073036 Historic England, 2020b. 10-60, Fox Lane Last accessed 28/7/20: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1210556 Historic England, 2020c. 102-112, Fox Lane Last accessed 28/7/20: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1361901 Miss ffarington, 1856. Notes on the Old Church at Leyland. Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, 7:18*-19*

Leyland Historical Society, 2020. Fox Lane Last accessed 28/7/20: https://www.leylandhistoricalsociety.co.uk/iw---6-fox-lane.html Mounsey, K. 2019. Land adjacent to Leyland Lane / Shaw Brook Road, Leyland, Lancashire Archaeological Evaluation Report. Wardell Armstong. Owen, P. 2017. Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment. Leyland Test Track, Leyland, Lancashire. CgMs Heritage. Palmer, J. and Powell-Smith, A. 2020. Leyland. Open Domesday. Last accessed 23/7/20: https://opendomesday.org/place/SD5422/leyland/ Pastscape 2015a. MONUMENT NO. 42639 Last accessed 24/7/20: https://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=42639 Pastscape 2015b. MONUMENT NO. 42641 Last accessed 24/7/20: https://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=42641 Ratledge, D. 2018. The Roman Road from Wigan to Walton-le-Dale Last accessed 21/7/20: http://www.romanroads.org/gazetteer/M70c.htm South Ribble Borough Council, 2014. Leyland Cross Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan. Last accessed 28/7/20: http://www.southribble.gov.uk/sites/default/files/Leyland%20Cross.pdf South Ribble Museum and Exhibition Centre, 2020a. Palaeoenvironmental Study. Interpreting the past through the study of the environment. Last accessed 24/7/20: http://south-ribble.co.uk/srmuseum/pages/heritage/01_mosses/01_mosses.htm South Ribble Museum and Exhibition Centre, 2020b. Heritage Highlights. Last accessed 24/7/20: http://south-ribble.co.uk/srmuseum/pages/heritage/heritage.htm South Ribble Museum and Exhibition Centre, 2020c. Archaeology & Landscape. Last accessed 24/7/20: http://south-ribble.co.uk/srmuseum/pages/collections/01_archaeology.htm Trippier, J. M. 2004. Land Between 2 & 10 Worden Lane, Leyland, Lancashire An Archaeological Watching Brief 7. Acknowledgements Waterloo Uncovered wishes to thank the 2020 cohort for engaging in the programme, in particular our participants for agreeing to excavate their test pit in Leyland.

8. Appendices

Ordnance Survey 1890s

Ordnance Survey 1910s

Ordnance Survey 1920s

Ordnance Survey 1930s

Ordnance Survey 1960s