Angel Meadow Park, Manchester, Archaeological Watching Brief Report

The watching brief illustrated the survival of structural remains relating to footings of St Michael’s Church and surfaces associated with terraced houses (demolished before 1922) fronting onto Style Street. However, the structural
remains were exposed only at the formation level of the cable trenches, above which were extensive deposits of topsoil and demolition rubble. The presence of demolition rubble and deposits of clinker and ash within the area formerly used as the cemetery is consistent with records of the area being used as a dumping ground in the mid/late nineteenth century.
No archaeological remains were encountered in the excavations within the former cemetery, and there were no disarticulated human remains encountered within the excavated deposits. The cable route in the vicinity of
St Michael’s Church was realigned to avoid impact to any structural remains. Due to the low level of impact to potential archaeological remains observed during the watching brief, it was decided, in discussion with GMAAS, that the watching brief be curtailed on 3rd December 2020.