A58 Blackbrook Diversion, St Helens, Merseyside Archaeological Excavation Interim Report

This report presents an interim account of the results to date of an on-going programme of archaeological investigations undertaken in advance of the construction
of the proposed A58 Blackbrook Diversion, St. Helens (SJ 5346 9655 – 5437 9749). The development is being undertaken by Birse Limited, and involves substantial earth-moving works that will have an impact on the sub-surface archaeological resource.
Following on from the results of a desk-based assessment of the entire development area (OA North 2002), a programme of archaeological evaluation trenching was implemented in 2004 (OA North 2004) that assessed the nature, extent, character and date of buried remains within the study area. The south-western section of the route could not be evaluated in 2004 because of restricted access, although a compulsory
purchase order, issued recently upon the owner, has allowed the completion of the remaining archaeological trenches. An additional eight evaluation trenches were excavated prior to the preparation of a series of balancing ponds along the south-east side of the proposed road. All the trenches were excavated by Oxford Archaeology North (OA North) in March 2006.
The evaluation trenches excavated in 2004 revealed considerable evidence of industrial activity along the proposed road route through the discovery of a number of
sites and also the widespread dumping of waste material associated with the industrial processes undertaken in the area. Of these, four sites warranted mitigated recording in
advance of the road construction, that required the excavation of four open area trenches of varying sizes. The sites comprised; a wooden platform (Trench A) that almost certainly represented the foundation of a small timber building probably dating to the nineteenth century, a brick culvert and extant wall remains (Trench B) that probably pertain to a building associated with the Blackbrook Colliery, a small brick building foundation (Trench C) of unknown function, and the remains of a cutting
associated with the Stanley Bank Incline (Trench D). All excavations were undertaken during March 2006.
A watching brief is currently being maintained along agreed sections of the proposed route, in particular along the length of an access road onto the site that would possibly
impact sub-surface deposits associated with the northern eastern part of the Garswood-Pewsfall incline plane, and in the south-western part of the route which is contaminated by Japanese Knotweed.