Daisy Barn to White Bull Main Pipeline, Longridge, Lancashire. Historic Research, Walkover Survey and watching Brief.

United Utilities has proposed the construction of a new pipeline from Daisy Barn, north-west of Longridge, to White Bull Main, Alston, Lancashire (SD 358564, 439429-359875, 435257). The scheme affects areas of archaeological potential from both the prehistoric and historic periods and, consequently, the Lancashire County Council Environment Service Historic Planning Archaeologist recommended that
rapid historic research and a walkover survey should be undertaken for previously undisturbed sections of the pipeline, and for areas where archaeological remains are
known to exist.
The desk-based research was undertaken in March 2008, whilst the walkover survey was undertaken in April 2008, and together these identified 77 sites within the study area. Of these sites, three were findspots comprising prehistoric axes ranging in datefrom the Neolithic to the Middle Bronze Age (Sites 73, 74 and 75). However, the majority of the sites comprised post-medieval and industrial period agricultural features, such as boundaries (Sites 01, 03, 15, 30, 33, 35, 37, 44, 65 and 72), a bank(Site 60), an enclosure (Site 62), trackways (Sites 32 and 54), gateposts (Sites 18, 21, 26,and 27), ponds (Sites 04, 07, 09, 11, 13, 25, 29, 31, 36, 40, 46-48, 52, 55, 59, 61, 63, 64, 67-69 and 71), and drainage features (Sites 39 and 53). Industrial
features such as quarries used for the extraction of marl and clay (Sites 05, 13, 14,17, 19, 20, 22, 23, 28, 38, 51 and 56), and numerous hollows of unknown use (Sites 04, 08, 42, 43, 49, 57 and 70) were also present. In addition, a building platform(Site 41) of probable post-medieval date and part of a railway embankment (Site 12), representing the disused branch line between Longridge and Preston dating to
the mid nineteenth century, were identified. Other sites comprised earthworks of unknown date and function. These included two earth banks (Sites 24 and 58), an area of disturbed ground (Site 50), and a circular mound (Site 45).