Old Hall, Kirkby Lonsdale Road, Over Kellet, Lancashire Archaeological Watching Brief Report

In June 2020 Oxford Archaeology (OA) North was commissioned by Mr David
Burns to undertake a watching brief during any below ground works
associated with the construction of a new build house at Old Hall, Kirkby
Lonsdale Road, Over Kellet, Lancashire (NGR: SD 52110 70050).
The site lies within the historic core of the village and a heritage assessment
prepared by JWRC Conservation identified that it was formerly occupied by a
large building or series of structures during the mid-nineteenth century. The
works, which were stipulated by Lancaster City Council as a condition of
planning permission, conformed to an approved WSI as prepared by OA North
and were undertaken over the course of 3 days in July 2020.
The watching brief comprised monitoring of topsoil stripping from across the
area, the reduction of levels in the eastern side of the plot and the excavation
of foundation trenches ahead of construction. These works revealed no direct
evidence of the anticipated structure. However, a spread of levelling material
filling a shallow depression was identified in the south-western corner of the
site, broadly coinciding with the hypothesised location of the structure and
this may have been associated with its demolition. In addition, a fragment of
a sandstone window lintel, recovered from a demolished boundary wall at the
front of the property could conceivably have come from this building.