Blocks 6 and 11, The Moor, Sheffield- Excavation

NJL Consulting, on behalf of RREEF (UK) Ltd, obtained planning permission for demolition and subsequent redevelopment of Block 6 (centred on NGR SK 3514 8665) and Block 11 (centred on NGR SK 3519 8665), The Moor, Sheffield, as part of a more extensive redevelopment. Permission was granted with a planning condition requiring a programme of archaeological work (ref ref 06/04145/FUL) that would need to be undertaken as a prerequisite to redevelopment in both of these areas to determine any necessary mitigation strategy.
NJL Consulting appointed CgMs to undertake an initial archaeological appraisal of both Blocks 6 and 11, carried out in 2007, which found there to be little activity on the site prior to the eighteenth century, apart from a late medieval deer-park bounded by oak paling. It is suspected that the boundary for this deer-park ran along the line of Porter Street, potentially a route of some antiquity, which originally ran in a north-west/south-east direction across Block 11. Until the late eighteenth century the area of land covered by Blocks 6 and 11 was largely undeveloped, forming part of ‘Little Sheffield Moore’ from wherein it gradually became incorporated into the evolving industrial city of Sheffield. Based on the findings of the appraisal, a further intrusive phase of archaeological investigation was agreed with the South Yorkshire Archaeological Service (SYAS) in order to assess the impact of the proposed development on any surviving below-ground archaeological remains and, thereafter, formulate a mitigation strategy. Consequently, Oxford Archaeology North (OA North) were commissioned by CgMs, on behalf of their client, to undertake this work. This investigation was undertaken in two separate phases; an archaeological watching brief was initially maintained during removal of the extant foundations and hardstanding over Block 11, followed by an open-area excavation and trenching in late 2007; archaeological trial trenching in Block 6 in July 2009.