Drigg Characterisation Boreholes, Cumbria. Archaeological Watching Brief

An archaeological evaluation was commissioned on behalf of British Nuclear Fuels
(BNFL) plc in conjunction with an application for planning permission to drill eight test
boreholes on 100ha of land between Drigg and the sea (NGR SD 147990). The aim of
the evaluation was to evaluate the impact of the proposed drilling programme on the
archaeological landscape within the defined study area.
The watching brief followed on from an archaeological assessment of the site
undertaken by Lancaster University Archaeological Unit (1996), which involved a
documentary study combined with a walk-over survey. The assessment demonstrated
evidence of occupation on both sides of the Esk estuary from the late Mesolithic,
through to the Early Bronze Age. The Mesolithic remains show that early man was
knapping flint in the area, and suggest that the tools made were for hunting or fishing,
as well as for food processing.