Winder Lane, Flookburgh, Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria- Evaluation

Oxford Archaeology North (OA North) was commissioned by Moorsolve Ltd to undertake an archaeological evaluation on land adjacent to Winder Lane, Flookburgh, Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria (NGR SD 3638 7580). A condition was placed on the planning consent for residential development of the outlined site to undertake a programme of archaeological work (planning ref: 5/07/0184) due to its position within the medieval village of Flookburgh (HER 3571), an area considered to be of high archaeological importance. The southern half of the site was heavily disturbed during the construction of a nursery in the twentieth-century. However, the north-eastern corner has remained relatively undisturbed. As a consequence, Cumbria County Council’s Historic Environment Service (CCCHES) issued a brief for an archaeological investigation of this portion of the site, including a rapid desk-based assessment and trial trenching.
Consultation of the Historic Environment Record (HER) identified 15 sites of archaeological significance within a 500m radius of the development site. These dated from the prehistoric to the post-medieval period. Two of the sites are Listed buildings (HER 16999 (Grade II) and 19071 (Grade II*)).
Documentary evidence suggests that the village of Flookburgh pre-dates the thirteenth-century, and was under the umbrella of Cartmel Priory; supplying the ecclesiastical centre with seafood from Morecambe Bay. The historical and cartographic evidence indicates that Flookburgh was a small medieval village (HER 3571) that has expanded very little over the centuries. The majority of the village comprises buildings strung along Main Street with burgage plots to the rear, and centred around the site of the former church (HER 2425). This layout of the village has been fossilised and is still current.
Two evaluation trenches excavated in the undisturbed north-east corner of the development site both comprised topsoil, 100, subsoil, 101, and natural geology, 102; no archaeological features were identified in either trench. Two fragments of pottery, of probable locally made fabrics, were retrieved from Trench 1 and most likely date to the later nineteenth to early twentieth century.
Little was identified of archaeological significance within the site, from any of the available documentary evidence, although given its relatively undeveloped nature there may have been potential for earlier remains or evidence of backyard plot activity, such as small-scale industrial activity. However, given the limited area available for evaluation the lack of archaeological remains or features cannot be taken as a true representation of the whole site.
The archaeological significance of the site would appear to be low, and it seems likely that the proposed development will have a negligible archaeological impact.