Archaeological Evaluation for G Park Stoke, Whittle Rd, Meir, Stoke-on-Trent

In April 2018, Salford Archaeology was commissioned by CgMs Consulting Ltd on behalf of Gazeley (UK) Ltd to undertake an archaeological evaluation of the site of the former Johnson Matthey Works off Whittle Road in Meir, Stoke-on-Trent (centred on NGR SJ 933 422). The evaluation was required to determine the presence, extent, depth, state of preservation and significance of the archaeological resource of the site as part of the planning process in advance of its proposed redevelopment as a storage and distribution warehouse facility (Use Class B8), with ancillary offices, parking and landscaping (Application No 48907). The archaeological work was intended to enable informed recommendations to be made regarding the future treatment of any surviving remains, in line with the National Planning Policy Framework, Paragraph 128. The potential for archaeological remains was highlighted in an updated written scheme of investigation that was prepared to support the development proposals. This concluded that the site had some potential for below-ground archaeological remains deriving from its proximity to the course of the Roman Rykeneld Street, and to Normacot Grange, a medieval grange of the Cistercian monastery of Hulton Abbey. There was also considered to be some potential for archaeological remains relating to the Meir Aerodrome, which occupied the site from the 1930s until the construction of the Johnson Matthey Works in the 1970s.