Clayton Hall, Clayton-le-Woods, Lancashire. Archaeological Evaluation Report

An archaeological evaluation was carried out by Lancaster University Archaeological
Unit (LUAU) at Clayton Hall, Chorley Borough, Lancashire (NGR SD 5646 2205), in
August 2000. The work was commissioned by the Environment Partnership on behalf of
English Partnerships, and followed an earlier archaeological feasibility study, including
topographical and geophysical surveys, by West Yorkshire Archaeological Services. The
site contains a moat, moated platform, feeder channels, and two fishponds, all of which
are components of a Scheduled Monument (SAM 13409). The work involved a
palaeoenvironmetal study of the northern pond and the northern section of the moat, and
also a programme of evaluation trenching to examine the moat, ponds and feeder
channels.
The study has revealed that the pond contained mainly organic muds and had generally
poor preservation of the pollen, whereas the moat had generally good preservation of
pollen and demonstrated the potential for pollen analysis. The study demonstrated an
absence of pine, larch, and exotic tree species pollen from the lower moat fills, which
suggests that the infill of the moat commenced before the eighteenth / nineteenth century
when these trees were extensively planted.