New Services to the Brewhouse and Stables, Lyme Park, Disley, Stockport, Cheshire: Archaeological Watching Brief Report

National Trust commissioned Oxford Archaeology North (OA North) to undertake an archaeological watching brief during groundworks from the brewhouse to the stable range at Lyme Park, Disley, Cheshire (NGR centred SJ 9644 8210). The groundworks comprised the excavation of pipe trenches associated with the upgrading of the existing boilers, situated in the brewhouse, through the orangery courtyard, to new Biomass boilers located in the northern wing of the stable range. Lyme Park dates to the fourteenth century and the proposed groundworks were likely to impact on two known archaeological features: an eighteenth century Stag Pond; and a deer fence dating to c 1740, as well as several drives and pathways that have crossed the area over the years. As a result, an archaeological watching brief was required in order to identify, investigate and record any archaeological remains encountered during the groundworks, and took place on 16th December 2011 and 10th January 2012.
The pipe trench measured 107m in length. It was 0.7m in width, and was excavated to a maximum depth of 0.94m. The initial 23m of the trench was situated within the orangery courtyard, and comprised a layer of crushed yellow sandstone (001), forming the current ground surface, beneath which there was a thick deposit of residual coal and charcoal (002), overlaying redeposited clay (003), which sealed the natural geology (004). Further to the south-east were the remains of an earlier, crushed brick surface (005). An isolated possible posthole (006) was recorded, truncating the levelling layers.