Ulpha Meadows, Foulshaw Moss Nature Reserve, Meathop, Cumbria- Rapid Desk-based Assessment and Evaluation

Cumbria Wildlife Trust submitted a planning application for the creation of an area of wetland and reed bed at Ulpha Meadows, Foulshaw Moss Nature Reserve, Meathop, Cumbria (NGR SD 4594 8216; Fig 1). The proposals for the development of the site comprise the excavation of a small mere, c 170m by 70m by 0.5m deep and the creation of clay bunds around the site to inhibit drainage and thus allow development of a wetland environment. Additional works include the re-profiling of the three ditches that run across the site, from 2m in width, to 10m in width. The proposed development site is considered to lie within an area of archaeological potential and, accordingly, the Lake District National Park Authority Archaeologist (LDNPAA) issued a brief for a programme of archaeological investigation to be undertaken in advance of the development, in order to further inform the planning process. Oxford Archaeology North (OA North) were subsequently commissioned by Cumbria Wildlife Trust to fulfil the requirements of the archaeological condition placed on the development, which included a rapid desk-based assessment and evaluation excavation. Also of concern to the LDNPAA was the possibility of peat deposits worthy of sampling in order to aid palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the area.
The desk-based assessment demonstrated that prehistoric remains have been found within the environs of the development site, but have not been identified within it. The most significant of these comprised two corduroy trackways located to the north of the site, but which had the potential to extend into the development area. Drainage of the local mosses probably commenced during the post-medieval period, and intensified from the early nineteenth century onwards, with the passing of Parliamentary Acts in 1803. Most of the identified sites within the vicinity of the development, as recorded on the Lake District National Park Historic Environment Record, relate to the development of this drainage system, elements of which survive within the modern landscape.