Former Marsh Lane Railway Station, Leeds, West Yorkshire. Archaeological Evaluation and Excavation.

Six 25m x 1.80m trail trenches were excavated in locations identified from historic mapping as being the probable locations of structures which had formed parts of the 1834 railway station. The trench locations were marked out on site using GPS equipment, and a 14 tonne 360 excavator was used to open the trenches. Any archaeological remains identified were further investigated and defined by hand excavation, and a full record was made of each trench using written, photographic and GPS survey methods. Following completion of the evaluation phase, and based on the archaeological remains identified in some of the trenches, the WYAAS requested two larger open area excavations targeting two specific buildings. Areas 1 and 2 were then excavated and recorded using the same techniques as employed during the evaluation. The foundations of the south-western half of the 1834 Superintendent's Office were uncovered in Area 1. These remains had formed part of Leeds' first passenger railway station, which was also the principal terminus of the second main line railway built in the UK. At Area 2, the foundations to the southern half of the 1835 Work Shop were recorded. This building was where the steam locomotives used to pull passenger and goods trains were serviced and repaired.