Clitheroe Castle, Clitheroe, Lancashire- Watching Brief

In December 2008, Oxford Archaeology North (OA North) was commissioned by National Grid Gas Distribution, acting on behalf of Ribble Valley Borough Council, to undertake an archaeological watching brief at Clitheroe Castle, Lancashire (centred at SD 7424 4169). The work was required to monitor all earth-moving works associated with the installation of a new gas pipe along the length of the main drive to the castle museum.
The laying of the gas main comprised the excavation of a service trench, which largely followed the footprint of an earlier service trench along the main drive. Earth-moving works were restricted largely to the removal of the existing tarmac and concrete within a 56m x 0.5m wide trench, and removal of the underlying deposits to a maximum depth of 0.6m to accommodate the new pipe. The excavated deposits largely comprised a layer of compacted, mixed rubble that was present throughout the excavated trench and presumably represented a bedding layer for the modern driveway surface, although a soil horizon was also revealed, in places, at the base of the trench. No archaeological features were encountered during the course of the watching brief, and whilst two small fragments of medieval pottery were recovered from the rubble layer, the works did not have a negative impact on the archaeological resource within the site.