The Lower Lune, Lower Wyre and Lower Ribble environs, Lancashire: Lancashire Aerial Imagery and Mapping Project
Author(s): Joel Goodchild, Ian Hardwick
This report describes and discusses the methodology and results of The Lower Lune, Lower Wyre and Lower Ribble environs, Lancashire, Aerial Investigation and Mapping Project. Aerial photographs and lidar images were used to map archaeological features in three blocks covering areas around Lancaster, Blackpool and Preston respectively. The project was completed to Historic England (HE) standards and was funded by Historic England through the National Heritage Protection Commissions Programme (NHPCP). The project was carried out by an Archaeological Research Services Ltd (ARS Ltd) Assistant Projects Officer, based with HE’s Aerial Investigation & Mapping Team (North) in York. The survey covered a total of 206 Ordnance Survey kilometre grid squares in three blocks. These are the uplands to the north-east of Lancaster, extending down through the lowlands surrounding Morecambe Bay toward Middleton (65sq km), the coastal plain including the fringes of Blackpool between the Wyre and Ribble estuaries (61sq km) and the river valleys surrounding Preston (80sq km). These areas were chosen because of their archaeological significance, with evidence for continued human occupation stretching back to the Mesolithic period, and the risk posed to this resource by proposed development. Project highlights include the discovery of features relating to a possible later prehistoric/Roman defended site (1612203) in Block 1 and, in Block 3, the remains of a formal garden in the grounds of Walton Hall (1619511). The main products of the project were digital transcriptions of the form and extent of archaeological features seen on aerial images with supporting descriptions in the National Record of the Historic Environment (NRHE). These are available from the Historic England Archive and were supplied to the HER. Monument records are available online on the Pastscape website (http://pastscape.org.uk/). The project was carried out between March 2017 and July 2018.
- Report Number:
- 14/2019
- Series:
- Research Report
- Pages:
- 73
- Keywords:
- Aerial Photograph Interpretation Aerial Photography Lidar Survey Mapping
