Ribchester Playing Fields, Ribchester, Lancashire- Watching Brief

In February 2006, Oxford Archaeology North (OA North) undertook an archaeological watching brief at the Ribchester Playing Fields site, Ribchester, Lancashire (NGR centred SD 6485 3511), on behalf of the Ribchester Playing Field Trust. The archaeological work was required as a condition to the planning consent (planning ref: 03/04/0291) due to the high archaeological potential of the development site. It is situated approximately 100m to the north of the Ribchester Roman fort, and lies within the area designated as a Scheduled Monument (Lancs SM55) and, hence, scheduled monument consent was also necessary for the development. Previous excavations in the immediate vicinity have revealed the presence of timber buildings and hearths which seemed to date to the second century AD and are believed to be connected with craft-working. The work was carried out in advance of the proposed construction of a multi-games and skateboard park, and involved the archaeological monitoring of the groundworks involved in the preliminary stages of this process.
The groundworks subject to a permanent archaeological presence consisted of topsoil stripping of the outlined development area, followed by the excavation of 14 trial pits for the purpose of the installation of floodlights and goal posts. During the groundworks, in situ Roman deposits were identified at a depth of approximately 0.6m below the modern ground surface. These comprised the remains of a cobbled road surface on a probable east/west alignment, which led to the repositioning of the whole development 4m to the north-west of its original positioning. Pottery recovered from immediately above these deposits and from the topsoil strip has suggested activity in this area from the first century AD through to the fourth century AD, reflecting the known longevity of the use of the fort.