Land to the South of Scroggs Wood, Kendal, Cumbria: Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment

Prior to the submission of a planning application for a site on land to the south of Scroggs Wood, Kendal, Greenlane Archaeology was commissioned to update a desk-based assessment, carried out in 2010. The new work was carried out in March 2014 and included a site visit.

The site is close to the Roman fort at Watercrook on the opposite (east) side of the River Kent and Helsington Laithes, the manor house for Helsington, a settlement that is recorded in the Domesday Book. It is also close to Helsington Mill, latterly a snuff mill, but prior to that a marble mill operated by Webster and Holmes of Kendal, and perhaps earlier still the site of a mill mentioned in the 13th century. Stray finds from the general area of both Roman and medieval date indicate that there is likely to have been some activity on the site in either or both of these periods. A Roman pottery or tile kiln found on the west side of the River Kent, adjacent to what is now called Scroggs Lane, immediately to the north of the site, further indicates that Roman activity extended across to the west side of the river.

The site visit identified few constraints to further archaeological work and little in the way of disturbance to either of the pieces of land.

The full report is available on the Archaeology Data Service website: https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-700-1/dissemination/pdf/greenlan1-180880_1.pdf