'Time Honoured Lancaster' The Urban Archaeology Database Revised Project Design

National Policy: Department of the Environment (DoE) planning guidance (PPG16, 1990) identifies the presence of archaeological deposits as a material consideration in the determination of a planning application and it expects planning authorities to adopt a curatorial role. PPG 15 (1994) recognises the archaeological potential of standing buildings and allows local authorities to give consideration to this aspect.
National policy on urban archaeological resources was set out in Managing the urban archaeological resource (English Heritage 1992), which proposed that management be achieved under an Urban Archaeological Strategy, to be developed in three broad stages:
Stage 1 (UAI9) Urban Archaeological Database
Creation of a database of archaeological information to support informed planning advice;
Stage 2 (UAA) Urban Archaeological Assessment
Preparation of a written assessment which synthesises current archaeological knowledge and understanding of, in this case, Lancaster in terms of local, regional and national archaeological importance.
Stage 3 (UAS) Urban Archaeological Strategy
Preparation of a strategy for managing the archaeological resource and updating of the database.
The Need for an Urban Archaeological Strategy, Lancaster: whilst the working relationship between Lancaster City Council and the County Sites and Monuments Record (SMR) has always been excellent, it is clear that Lancaster City Council has a need to procure detailed archaeological data for their own planning. A detailed Urban Archaeological Database has therefore been proposed for the historic heart of the city which will support the provision of forward planning and development control advice by the Lancashire County Archaeological Service (LCAS) to Lancaster City Council and effect will be an extension of the SMR. It will become an important tool for early consultation between planners, developers and archaeologists.
The present proposal is submitted by Oxford Archaeology North (OA North) (formerly Lancaster University Archaeological Unit) in conjunction with Lancaster City Council, to outline the structure, preparation and management of an Urban Archaeological Database (UAD) designed to collate a selection of available data relating to the City of Lancaster relevant to the management of its archaeological resource. The UAD will facilitate the production of the Urban Archaeological Assessment (UAA) and ultimately the Urban Archaeological Strategy (UAS), for Lancaster, which will provide for the management of the archaeological resource within the bounds of the city, and will maximise the value of conservation and preservation in the urban context. This will provide a simple set of maps indicating archaeological potential and hazard areas, for use by planning officers. The Urban Archaeological Strategy will be produced by Lancaster City Council in conjunction with Lancashire County Council (Section 3.2).
The UAD will involve the detailed analysis of, and research into, the development of Lancaster from its inception to the present day. It will thereby provide the basis for strategic planning and allow for the conservation, presentation and future development of Lancaster's historic resource.
Lancaster's Roman and medieval history places it in the hierarchy of historic northern towns, after York and Chester, and Carlisle, but alongside Manchester, Durham and Newcastle. English Heritage has acknowledged the great archaeological importance of Lancaster as one of the most dominant settlements in the north of England, in its willingness to consider funding the creation of a UAD for the City.
Urban Archaeological Database: the present project design for the establishment of a UAD for Lancaster is the product of a pilot study, undertaken by OA North. This pilot study assessed the proposed methodology and the extent of documentary and archaeological records pertinent to the city. The documentary material was found to be fairly extensive and the great majority of the sources examined contained unique material of pertinence to the overall study. The pilot study highlighted the significance of the city at particular stages of its history, particularly the Roman period, during the medieval period, and also during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries when it served as an important regional port and had prominent links with the New World. A more detailed assessment of the results of the pilot study is presented in Section 4.
The pilot study provided a detailed breakdown of all pertinent sources and also involved a GIS trial on a selected area to test for any complications that may arise during the main study, in addition it allowed for an accurate assessment of the resource implications for the completion of GIS design and the assimilation of the UAD (Sections 6 and 8).
The presentation of this enhanced project design incorporates discussions between English Heritage, Lancaster City Council, and Lancashire County Council, in line with English Heritage's policy statement Managing the Urban Archaeological Resource (1992). The project design is prepared in accordance with English Heritage's guidelines for the Management of Archaeological Projects (MAP 2) (English Heritage 1991) and with a brief issued in September 1993, ‘Urban Archaeological Databases: Extended Brief for Project Designs' (English Heritage 1993).