Cattell, SJ
2018,
Archaeological evaluation : Victoria Mill, Droylsden, Tameside
, Project Report,
University of Salford, Salford.
Access Information: Link above is to research outputs and data for this project
Abstract
In March 2017, Salford Archaeology (SA) was commissioned by the De Trafford Estates
Group to undertake an archaeological evaluation on land surrounding the former Victoria
Mill on Buckley Street, Droylsden (centred on SJ 90061 98064). The programme of
archaeological evaluation was intended to comprise the excavation of three trenches,
aimed to establish the presence, extent and significance of any buried archaeological
remains on the site, and was required to satisfy a condition that was attached by Tameside
Metropolitan Borough Council to planning consent for a proposed development (Planning
Ref: 15/00030/OUT).
Victoria Mill was built in 1845 by Edmund Buckley for Henry Lees & Brothers of
Manchester who specialised in the production of heavy cotton cloth. The mill originally
consisted of three ranges with a private canal arm to the south, but was extended
throughout the 19th and 20th centuries to include additional buildings abutting the main
mill structure, a chimney stack and associated buildings to the south and a row of workers’
housing to the north. Although cotton production ceased in 1932, the mill was reopened
after the war and repurposed for the manufacture of other materials before being split in
the later 20
th
century to accommodate a number of smaller businesses.
The three evaluation trenches were located to target the remains of the chimney stack, and
extension to the main mill block to the south, and the footprint of a row of workers’
housing that lies along the northern boundary of the site. Due to the land remaining in use
as part of a garage, however, the area that was to be investigated by Trench 1 (the site of
the mill chimney) was not available for excavation. The other two trenches were
excavated in June 2017.
The trenches revealed that there was reasonable survival of the 19
th
- and 20
th
-century
remains across the site. These remains were exposed at a depth of between 0.30m and
2.00m below the modern ground surface, and comprised hand-made brick features
associated with the row of workers’ housing fronting onto Manchester Road, and brick
and concrete structures relating to the southern extension of the mill, demolished in the
1980s.
Based on the results obtained from the evaluation, it is concluded that the structural
remains exposed in the excavated trenches are not of sufficient archaeological interest to
merit any further investigation.
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