Parkside Link Road, Newton-le�Willows, St Helens Historic Building Recording and Watching Brief

Oxford Archaeology (OA) North was commissioned by The Environment Partnership (TEP) on behalf of Ramboll UK to undertake historic building recording of Rough Cottage and Rough Farm Barn, and watching brief following their demolition, on Winwick Lane, Newton-le-Willows in advance
of construction of a new road to link the proposed Parkside development to the east of the A49 and the M6 (NGR: SJ 61413 94008).
This work was undertaken as condition 24 of Planning Permission (planning ref. P/2018/0249/FUL). During consultation for the application, the archaeological advisors to St Helens Council and Warrington Borough Council, Merseyside Environmental Advisory Service (MEAS), recommended that Rough Cottage and Rough Farm Barn be subject to historic building recording.
A written scheme of investigation (WSI) was produced by TEP detailing the Local Authority’s requirements for work necessary to discharge the planning condition. OA North were subsequently commissioned to undertake the necessary fieldwork; the building recording was carried out over two days, 24th and 25th of May 2022, whilst the watching brief was carried out over three days, 13th, 14th and 16th September 2022.
Both the Cottage and Barn were fully recorded, however, the Cottage had been heavily modified through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries meaning that much of the original form and fabric of the building was not visible during the survey. The Cottage was clearly residential in nature,
providing lodging for the farmer, his family and often accommodating the dairy and other domestic functions. The Barn was erected as a multi-function building, reflecting the mixed agricultural system that operated on the farm.
The buildings appeared to correspond well with documentary and cartographic evidence, in that they appeared to have been constructed in the early to mid-nineteenth century, then having their layout and usage modified through to modern times.
The watching brief undertaken following the demolition of the upstanding Cottage and Barn buildings did not identify any evidence of earlier structural remains, although, the watching brief in the location of the Cottage did allow
closer inspection of the cellar in the western part of the building, which could not be investigated during the building recording. The fabric of the cellar does lead to the suggestion of a mid- to late-eighteenth century date for its construction, due to the use of hand-made brick and sandy lime mortar, which corresponds fairly well with the historical research undertaken.