Gibfield Park, Atherton, Wigan, Greater Manchester. Archaeological Evaluation.

The evaluation comprised the excavation of a six trenches, which were targeted across
the footprint of buildings depicted on historical mapping, and specifically the
Ordnance Survey plans of 1849 and 1894. The results obtained from the evaluation
demonstrated that well-preserved historic fabric survives as buried remains across the
majority of the area investigated, with the exception of the northern terrace of the
mid-twentieth century factory, where all archaeological remains had been destroyed
entirely. The remains of archaeological interest that survived in the central and
southern parts of the site mainly comprised walls, floors, yards and tracks, most of
which were not depicted in detail on the sequence of historical mapping.
The structures revealed within Trench 5 appeared to relate to a farmstead, or larger
house, with a high-quality cobbled track to its rear. The structure within Trench 6,
representing elements of the former Knight’s Farm, was of stone and brick
construction, suggesting that it represented the earliest fabric on the site, possibly
dating from the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century.
The results obtained from the evaluation have demonstrated that buried archaeological
remains of local or borough interest survive in-situ at a shallow depth across the
central and southern parts of the site, and these are likely to be damaged or destroyed
by the groundworks required by the proposed development. Whilst the archaeological
remains are not of such significance to merit preservation in-situ, their damage or
destruction during development works should be subject to appropriate mitigation.
The scope and extent of any such mitigation would be devised in consultation with the
Greater Manchester Archaeological Advisory Service, although it may be anticipated
that a programme of further archaeological excavation, with a commensurate level of