Peel Hall, Warrington, Cheshire: Archaeological Excavation

Mechanical excavation of the topsoil and subsoil was undertaken by a 14-tonne, tracked excavator fitted with a 1.8m wide, toothless ditching bucket. Initial removal of the overburden was to be undertaken with a 9-tonne, front-loading wheeled dumper truck, however, adverse ground conditions i.e. waterlogging, put the archaeological remains, the plant operator and machine at risk and removal thereafter was undertaken by an 11-tonne tracked dumper. Excavation commenced under direct archaeological supervision and successive level spits of the topsoil and subsoil up to 0.2m were removed to the first archaeological horizon and natural substrate. Spoil was stockpiled adjacent to the north, east, and south. An area of 0.3ha was opened in the north-eastern area of the grounds of the former Peel Hall. Several moderately sized ditches containing ceramic land drains and an extensive network of defunct land drains were identified. Previous interpretations of possible archaeological features were proven to be false on account of the evaluation trenches confining the archaeologists to a narrow view of the geological substrata.