Planning Case Study 160
Carlisle Northern Development Route (A689), between the A595 Wigton Road, south-west of the city, and Junction 44 of the M6, to the north, Cumbria
Planning scenario(s)
Heritage assets affected
Undesignated heritage assets with archaeological and historic interest
Type of application & broad category
Local planning authority
Authority: Cumbria County Council
References: 1/4/9032
Development proposal
8.5km of new-build road around the western and northern sides of Carlisle.
Archaeological information known about the site before the planning application was made, or before the development commenced, as appropriate
The route crossed the line of Hadrian’s Wall, the northern frontier of the Roman empire, constructed in the early 2nd century AD. Hadrian's Wall represents the most complete of the frontiers of the Roman Empire, and its archaeological and historic significance is reflected in its designation as a scheduled monument (NHLE no. 1018309), and its inclusion by UNESCO in the list of World Heritage Sites (as part of Frontiers of the Roman Empire).
Archaeological/planning processes
Planning for the Northern Development Route began in the 1990s and an initial assessment was undertaken in 1995. The first phase of evaluation focused on the part of the route that would have an impact on Hadrian’s Wall at a new crossing over the River Eden.
A small-scale evaluation consisting of one trench was undertaken in 1997 to assess the survival and condition of Hadrian’s Wall on the line of the proposed road.
A more extensive evaluation was conducted in 2005 when 20 trenches were excavated which confirmed that Hadrian’s Wall, the vallum, and an associated track and mounds, were preserved on the line of the proposed road. The remains of the wall were found to be fragmentary, with only the southern face and part of its core surviving; much of the wall had already collapsed into the River Eden.
An overall archaeological strategy was produced for the road construction consisting of a programme of investigation through evaluation, excavation and a watching brief during construction, including the excavation of the remains of Hadrian’s Wall to be affected by the scheme.
This work was secured by two conditions attached to the planning permission: to implement a programme of archaeological investigation along the route, and to investigate and protect the remains of Hadrian’s Wall. The work was undertaken between May 2008 and April 2011.
Outcomes: archaeological
Fifteen archaeological sites were investigated through evaluation and excavation.
The most significant results were from Stainton West, on the floodplain on the northern bank of the River Eden, opposite Knockupworth. Nationally important prehistoric remains were unexpectedly found there, unprecedented in the north of England. A huge undisturbed assemblage of late Mesolithic worked stone (c.300,000 pieces) had accumulated adjacent to a waterlogged palaeochannel (a relict watercourse) during repeated activity at an extremely long-lived and well-organised hunter-gatherer encampment. Exceptionally well-preserved organic deposits in the channel were contemporary with the Mesolithic activity and continued to form during the Neolithic period and Bronze Age. This material was not identified during evaluation (no geoarchaeological investigation was undertaken on the floodplain at that stage) but the area was inspected after topsoil stripping and the site identified at that stage.
The road scheme also provided a rare opportunity to excavate a transect through the Hadrian’s Wall Frontier, which provided important new information on the poorly understood sector west of Carlisle.
The results of the programme of archaeological work have been analysed and a publication produced.
Other outcomes/outputs e.g. other public benefit such as public engagement, research and new/changed work practices
A popular publication has been produced, a contribution to the forthcoming prehistoric gallery at Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery, and numerous public presentations of the results.
References and links/bibliography
- Lancaster University Archaeological Unit 1996, Cumbria Northern Relief Road, Archaeological assessment. Unpublished report.
- Carlisle Archaeological Unit 1997, Knockupworth Farm, Carlisle, Cumbria: report on an archaeological evaluation on the proposed line of the Carlisle Northern Development Route. Unpublished report.
- CFA Archaeology 2003, Carlisle Northern Development Route: archaeological evaluation. Unpublished report.
- CFA Archaeology 2005, Carlisle Northern Development Route: Land affected at the crossing of Hadrian's Wall (Parcel 21); archaeological evaluation. Unpublished report.
- CFA Archaeology 2005, Carlisle Northern Development Route: Parcels 27N and 41N, Stainton, Carlisle; archaeological evaluation. Unpublished report.
- Oxford Archaeology North, 2011, Stainton West, Carlisle Northern Development Route: Archaeological Assessment. Unpublished report.
- Oxford Archaeology North, 2011, Carlisle Northern Development Route, Cumbria, post-excavation assessment. Unpublished report.
- Brown, F, Clark, P, Dickson, A, Gregory, R A, and Zant, J, From an ancient Eden to a new frontier: an archaeological journey along the Carlisle Northern Development Route, Lancaster Imprints, forthcoming.
