Newsletter Winter 2015

2nd February 2015

Where has the last year gone! Wessex's Northern office turned five in November and we are celebrating another busy year with a team of nearly 50 staff.

The Sheffield office team has almost trebled in size since opening, as has our turnover we are ahead of our target of £1.35 million this year and are firmly established as the market leader in the north. Highlights this year include three paid interns through the University of Sheffield, Santander and Sheffield City Council, recruiting 14 archaeologists from the local area, joining the planning and construction groups of the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership and Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and working with the University of Sheffield to attract our next intake of new recruits. Service Profiles Road Schemes and Archaeology The last year has seen continued success on road scheme projects for Wessex Archaeology's Northern Office, allowing us to demonstrate the wide variety of services we can offer. A556 Knutsford to Bowden We are currently undertaking a programme of archaeological investigations along the proposed route of the A556 Knutsford to Bowdon Improvement Scheme on behalf of Costain, working with Capita. The project aims to improve the existing A556, which links northern Cheshire and South Manchester with the West Midlands. The archaeological investigations comprise strip and record, over one-hundred evaluation trenches and watching brief work. A160/A180 Improvement, Immingham Wessex Archaeology was commissioned by Costain to carry out geophysical survey and an archaeological trench evaluation on land adjacent to the A160 in northern Lincolnshire, to the west of Immingham. The work was undertaken as part of a programme of archaeological works associated with the A160/A180 Improvement scheme. The majority of the evaluation trenches targeted geophysical anomalies likely to represent ditched field boundaries. Generally, there was a close degree of correspondence between the geophysical survey data and the remains revealed in the evaluation trenches. FARRRS, Doncaster As part of the Finningley and Rossington Regeneration Route Scheme (FARRRS), Mott MacDonald Ltd helped Doncaster Council to commission Wessex Archaeology to undertake a scheme of archaeological excavation and strip, map and record. Our Sheffield team previously undertook a programme of geophysical survey, fieldwalking and trenching to evaluate the site and inform any mitigation strategies.  The work revealed evidence for Romano-British settlement and farming which included the remains of a leather shoe or sandal, and pottery from local kilns. Andrew Norton (Regional Manager, North) spoke on our work at FARRRS at this year's sold out South Yorkshire Archaeology day. The event reflected our increased presence in South Yorkshire and also featured talks from, Jacqueline McKinley (Senior Burials Consultant) and Grace Corbett (Senior Heritage Consultant). The leather shoe took centre stage as Alexandra Grassam (Senior Heritage Consultant) inspired the next generation of young archaeologists with a hands on experience in making Roman sandals! Ewood Gyratory and Furthergate Bus Lane, Blackburn Capita Symonds commissioned us to carry out an archaeological investigation at the Ewood Gyratory, Blackburn, Lancashire in advance of the Pennine Reach bus rapid transport scheme. As well as fieldwork (strip map and record), our Built Heritage team undertook a Level 1 building survey.  Alongside our work at Ewood Gyratory, our team is also undertaking archaeological work for North Midland Construction as part of the Furthergate Bus Lane improvement works in Blackburn. During the works a 3m deep cellar of a public house was unearthed, which locals remembered with nostalgic enthusiasm! Wales Wessex Archaeology's new Aberystwyth office has also benefitted from increased infrastructure work, which has been staffed by teams from the Sheffield office. As part of a proposed new link road, Amec Environment and Infrastructure on behalf of Anglesey County Council, commissioned Wessex Archaeology to undertake trial trenching ahead of works at Llangefni Link Road. Work has also started on the A465 Heads of the Valleys road scheme, with Wessex Archaeology providing a built heritage team, as well as geophysicists and excavation staff.

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