STRIBERS BANK WIND FARM, BACKBARROW, CUMBRIA Archaeological Assessment Report

An archaeological assessment has been undertaken in March 1999 of the proposed wind farm at Stribers Bank, to the south of Backbarrow, Cumbria (centred at NGR SD 360 815) (Fig 1) by Lancaster University Archaeological Unit (LUAU), on behalf of Dulas Ltd.
The desk-based study established that this upland area was the subject of parliamentary enclosure, in the late eighteenth / early nineteenth centuries, and prior to this the area was open common. The desk-based study identified a number of sites around the edges of the study boundary, including a barkpeeler's hut and a charcoal pitstead, but only one site was documented within the study area, a gravel pit (Site 05).
The identification survey identified 10 sites across the study area, including a small cultivated plot and two isolated putative clearance cairns. Although these features are inherently undatable, there is a possibility that they had a prehistoric origin. There is also the possibility
that there are further archaeological features below ground.
Only a tentative layout of the proposed turbines was available, but the proposed position of turbine 1 will be only 33m away from a possible clearance cairn.
It is recommended that the layout of the turbines, roads, and power cables be designed so as to respect the identified archaeological resource. Evaluation trenching should be undertaken to examine the potential for below ground archaeological features within the area of each turbine
and an archaeological watching brief should be undertaken during the topsoil strip for the linear communication systems.