Crown Farm Quarry, Oakmere, Cheshire- Watching Brief

An archaeological watching brief was carried out for Tarmac Ltd in June 2008 by Oxford Archaeology North (OA North) at Crown Farm Quarry, Oakmere, Cheshire (NGR SJ 571699). The work was required as part of a planning condition (ref: 4/APP/2004/0565) to be carried out during the topsoil stripping of a 40m wide corridor in advance of extraction along the line of a projected Roman road. This followed previous archaeological investigation undertaken within the area outlined for the latest phase of extraction at the quarry. As part of the condition, a geophysical survey and programme of trial trenching had been carried out (LUAU 1991). Consequently, a subsequent watching brief (LUAU 1998) was maintained over part of the area known, as Phase 4 of the extraction. The investigation found the site to be traversed by the line of the Roman road linking the forts at Chester (Deva), Northwich (Condate) and Manchester (Mancunium), although it would seem that ploughing has truncated much of the remains in this area. Nevertheless, the road was seen in the trial trenching to consist of a cambered gravelled surface measuring 12.5m wide with flanking ditches.
The area subject to a watching brief during the latest phase of wider topsoil stripping observed the removal of the topsoil in the 40m corridor to a maximum depth of approximately 0.7m, wherein two features were uncovered. The first was a small square pit, 105, that measured 1.2m by 0.62m and 0.04m deep. The second was a feature that appeared to be a ditch or gully, 107, at the eastern end of the 40m corridor. It had irregular sides and was approximately 4.85m long, 2.1m wide and 0.55m deep. It was filled with dark grey sand (106), very similar to the topsoil, which suggests that it may be a natural/geological anomaly. A rubble feature was also observed, thought to be the remains of a field boundary, positioned close to the track marked on modern Ordnance Survey mapping. No finds were retrieved and no significant archaeological features were observed.