Inner Marsh Farm RSPB
May 17, 2010 by Blair Poole
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds were creating a new, vital, secure habitat for wading birds along the Dee estuary to the north of Chester. The site was an already established bird sanctuary and Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). To create the new habitat a series of reed beds were excavated in 5 hectares of low lying area leading to the estuary.
As the site lay close to known Medieval and Post Medieval settlements the Archaeological Advisor to the Local Authority requested that archaeological monitoring be undertaken during the groundworks. This was in order to identify whether the early settlements extended further towards the estuary than their modern counterparts.
As a secondary aim the monitoring was also used to identify whether flooding deposits from the Dee encroached onto this area. These flooding deposits may have washed in archaeological artefacts, as found at other areas along the coast, as well as covered and preserved in-situ archaeological remains. A phase of metal detecting was also undertaken to further this aim.
The results of the monitoring clearly showed that the flooding deposits were significant, extending to over 1.2m in depth. No archaeological features were identified on the site.
The RSPB now has a larger habitat for endangered native wading species, and the archaeological condition was successfully signed off.
| Client: | Royal Society for the Protection of Birds |
| Site: | Dee estuary, Cheshire |
| Development type: | Waterways, estuaries, floodplains |