21 Church Street, Ribchester, Lancashire. Archaeological Watching Brief.

In 2007 Mr David Porter submitted proposals for the construction of a new kitchen extending into the rear garden of his property at number 21 Church Street, Ribchester,
Lancashire (SD 6490 3520). The town of Ribchester lies within an area of archaeological potential, much standing within the bounds of the Scheduled Ancient Monument for a Roman fort and parts of its extramural settlement. Accordingly, Lancashire County Archaeology Service (LCAS), the County Council’s body responsible for advising local planning authorities on heritage matters, issued a verbal
brief that a programme of archaeological works should form a condition of any planning permission for the development. Oxford Archaeology North (OA North) subsequently produced a project design for an archaeological watching brief and,
following approval of the document by LCAS, was commissioned by Mr Porter to undertake the works on the 16th of April 2007.
Groundworks comprised the manual excavation of an L-shaped foundation trench, some 10.75m in length and up to 0.92m deep. Close to the base of the trench, a charcoal-rich clay layer was identified and interpreted as a relict medieval soil horizon that had formed when the area had lain to the rear of a burgage plot fronting the ancient thoroughfare of Church Street. This horizon in turn sealed a possible Roman
midden deposit, which was over 0.5m thick and contained pottery dating from the late first to third centuries AD, including Gaulish samian, Black Burnished wares and more locally produced fabrics from Mancetter/Hartshill and Wilderspool, as well as several fragments of Spanish amphora. Also present were a number of fragments of
burnt daub, suggestive of nearby structures, as well as a piece of smithing residue.
Evidence from a processed palaeoenvironmental sample from the refuse deposit also indicated the likelihood of some industrial activity in the area, although the only
substantive evidence for diet and/or agricultural activity comprised a single degraded charred (cf) wheat grain. A lone sherd of medieval pottery from this deposit is likely
to have been intruded by later horticultural activity.