Bennett Bank Landfill Site, Dalton-in-Furness, Cumbria- Desk-based Assessment

Oxford Archaeology North (OA North) was commissioned by Encia Consulting Limited to undertake an updated version of a desk-based archaeological assessment originally undertaken in 1994 by OA North in its former guise of Lancaster University Archaeological Unit (LUAU) of the proposed Bennett Bank Landfill Site extension. The site is located 1km to the north-east of Dalton-in-Furness, Cumbria. The desk-based assessment was carried out in October 2003 in accordance with a verbal brief issued by Cumbria County Council Archaeology Service (CCCAS) and forms part of an Environmental Impact Assessment and Planning Application.
Research indicates that the site was once part of the Park Iron Mines complex, which extracted huge quantities of haematite from the area in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Cartographic and documentary evidence show that mine shafts, buildings, and the Mineral Railway were sited within the study during this period. An archaeological watching brief of part of the site was undertaken in 1998 and this exposed the remains of four structures associated with the mining industry.