Number 24 Church Street, Ribchester, Lancashire. Archaeological Watching Brief.

In 2008 Mrs Linda Jubb submitted proposals for the construction of a new kitchen extending into the rear garden of her property at number 24 Church Street, Ribchester,
Lancashire (SD 6490 3520). The town of Ribchester lies within an area of archaeological potential, much standing within the bounds of the Scheduled Ancient Monument for a Roman fort and parts of its extramural settlement. Accordingly, Lancashire County Archaeology Service (LCAS), the County Council’s body responsible for advising local planning authorities on heritage matters, issued a verbal
brief that a programme of archaeological works should form a condition of any planning permission for the development. Oxford Archaeology North (OA North) subsequently produced a project design for an archaeological watching brief and,
following approval of the document by LCAS, was commissioned by Mrs Jubb to undertake the works on 6th August 2008.
Groundworks comprised the manual reduction by 0.3m of an area some 4.7m square, in the corner of which a footing, 0.9m x 0.9m, was excavated to a depth of 0.73m
below ground level. Beneath a levelling layer for the kitchen floor, the groundworks revealed another levelling layer, or possibly a buried soil horizon, containing an
assemblage of well-preserved post-medieval refuse, and a single unabraded sherd of Roman pottery dating to the second century AD. The development has had little significant impact upon the archaeological resource, although the Roman pottery indicates the possibility of the preservation of in situ Roman deposits below the present level of impact