Stockdale Moor. Survey Catalogue

The Cumbria and Lancashire Unit, in 1986 renamed the Lancaster University
Archaeological Unit, was established by the Directorate of Ancient Monuments and
Historic Buildings within the Department of the Environment, the predecessor of
English Heritage, in the Department of Classics and Archaeology in the University of
Lancaster in April 1979. The purpose of the unit was to advance understanding of the
archaeology of north west England through undertaking excavations and surveys
directed at sites and monuments threatened with destruction. In the first three years of
the unit's existence a number of such projects were undertaken, all identified as
priorities in 1979. By 1982 however it was clear that a longer term strategic review of
priorities in the north west was needed. With this in mind, the Directorate of Ancient
Monuments and Historic Buildings commissioned the unit to undertake "An assessment
of the sites and monuments records for Cumbria and Lancashire". The purpose of this
was to determine the quality of the existing database for the two counties, and to make
recommendations for future work (Leech 1982).