Cottam Hall Site T, Near Preston, Central Lancashire. Archaeological Assessment.

Oxford Archaeology North was commissioned in April 2000 by the Environment Partnership (TEP) to carry out an archaeological assessment of a proposed development site at Cottam Hall, Preston, in Central Lancashire (SD 505 323
centred); the proposed development is for a new school and residential care home.
This assessment forms an initial stage of archaeological investigation, and involves a desk-based study and a walk-over survey of the development area. The assessment involved the investigation of pertinent documentary sources, which
included the Lancashire County Record Office, the Sites and Monuments Record, Local Studies Libraries and published records. The walk-over survey involved the examination of surface features which were surveyed in using GPS equipment.
This archaeological desk-based assessment has identified seven known sites and one known findspot within the area of proposed development. These comprise the below ground remains of a possible medieval moat described in the 1880s in the northwestern corner of the site, low earthworks visible on air photographs in the centre of the study area, the possible below ground remains of ridge and furrow earthworks, the earthwork remains of former field boundary ditches pre-dating the earliest map consulted, dated to 1838, and the findspot of numerous musket balls and clay pipes believed to indicate the possible site of a Civil War skirmish.