Site Adjacent to Chester Road, Warrington, Cheshire. Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment.

Following a request by Sinclair Knight Merz, Oxford Archaeology North undertook an archaeological assessment of a site adjacent to Chester Road, Warrington, Cheshire (SJ
6035 8685), which is located to the south of Warrington town centre, and situated on the west bank of a diversion of the River Mersey. The site is being assessed prior to a proposed development. The work involved a desk-based assessment and was undertaken in May 2004.
The desk-based assessment involved the examination of a 1km study area centred on the site, including all pertinent documents and cartographic sources held in the County
Record Offices in Chester and Preston, and the consultation of the Sites and Monuments Record (SMR) of Cheshire County Council based in Chester. In addition, a number of published sources were consulted to provide background information.
The desk-based assessment located two Scheduled Monuments from within the study area; SM 108 Bank Quay Transporter Bridge, and SM 110 Wilderspool Roman Site, but no listed buildings. Thirty-six sites were also located from the SMR. These included prehistoric flint tools (Sites 1, 2, 4), a Bronze Age barrow with a cremation urn (Site 6), the Roman settlements at Warrington and Wilderspool (Sites 10, 12, 13,
14, 15, 16, 17), early medieval logboats (Sites 18, 19, 20, 21), and various postmedieval industrial sites such as the Chemical Works (Site 25) and sites connected with the railway (Sites 29, 30). Cartographic sources analysed showed the site remained undeveloped until the Grand Junction Railway and the Mersey river diversion impacted on the area in the late nineteenth century.