Site Spotlight: Geophysical Survey at Ashton Road, Lancashire

CFA's geophysics team surveyed, via magnetic gradiometer, approximately 1.6 hectares of land in Lancaster, Lancashire.

Several areas of possible archaeology were identified, including a cluster of sub-circular anomalies and clusters of pits. These could date anywhere from the Iron Age through to the Romano-British era. Although there is evidence for prehistoric activity in the wider area, there is none known within 1km of our site. There is, however, a bounty of Roman evidence within this wider area, including a coin of Claudius II, Roman figurines, and two milestones.

Interestingly, an area of magnetic disturbance was identified to the northeast of the site, alongside what is now a canal. It's likely that this area relates to ground disturbance and soil deposition which occurred during the construction of the canal itself (seen curving upwards from the bottom of this image, just to the right of our survey area). Another example of how geophysics can capture all kinds of history!

If you'd like to see more about our archaeological geophysics programme of work, visit our geophysics webpage.