St Helens Central Station, St Helens- Watching Brief

An archaeological watching brief was carried out by Oxford Archaeology North (OA North) on the 21st and 23rd November 2007 during ground works involved in the excavation of a car park directly to the north of St Helens Central Station, St Helens, Merseyside (NGR SJ 51631 95374). The work was commissioned by C Spencer Ltd.
An earlier desk-based assessment undertaken by OA North (2004) for the purposes of the redevelopment of St Helens Central Station, identified a total of 97 sites of archaeological interest within the vicinity, of which almost all related to industrial activity, including sites associated with the Huyton line railway and St Helens canal. Consequently, recommendations for further work were made for those sites likely to be impacted upon by the proposed development. In this instance, the canal arm (Site 94) was the main site likely to be affected by the ground works.
An archaeological presence was maintained during the removal of a concrete building base. Due to the thickness of the concrete and the size of the machine needed for its removal, it became very difficult to see if any archaeological features were present. However, it is possible that archaeological remains still exist at a deeper level than the present ground works. Consequently, no further archaeological work is therefore recommended unless any additional groundworks are to be undertaken to a greater depth.