Land At Mythop Hall Farm, Mythop Lane, Weeton, Lancashire- Evaluation

Shackleton Associates, on behalf of their client R Collinge and Son, commissioned Oxford Archaeology North (OA North) to undertake a programme of archaeological work on an area of pasture at Mythop Hall Farm, Mythop Lane, Weeton, Lancashire (centred NGR SD 3721 3539), as a condition of the planning consent (planning application reference 05/05/0010). The proposed development is for an angling lake and associated access. The archaeological work comprised a low-level desk-based assessment, followed by an archaeological field evaluation and palaeoenvironmental assessment, and was undertaken in July and August 2005.
The desk-based assessment consisted of consultation of the Lancashire Sites and Monuments Record (SMR) and resources within OA North’s library. The results showed the potential for prehistoric activity within the vicinity of the study site. Stray finds and occasional flint scatters have been found within a 1.5km radius of the site, dated to the Neolithic and Bronze Age, and particularly within areas of higher ground above the moss, which may be the focal points of activity and possible settlement. This indicates that some areas were being exploited, possibly for agricultural purposes. Organic soil was identified from recent mapping of the area in the eastern part of the site, around the position of the proposed angling lake, and is thought to relate to an eroded peat deposit. This had been previously dated to the Neolithic period. A former watercourse is also known to meander through the site, to the west of centre, and is likely to be associated with a former estuarine channel.