ArchaeologicalEvaluationInterim Report:Daisy Mill,Longsight,Manchester

Salford Archaeology was commissioned by Laing O’Rourke to undertake anarchaeological evaluation on land at Daisy Mill, Stockport Road, Longsight, Manchester(centred on SJ 86242 96198) as part of a scheme to construct a new school. This reportconsists of the results from the first nine evaluation trenches. Although further evaluationis required within the yard to the rear of the mill and within the mill footprint followingthe demolition of Daisy Mill it was felt an interim report was necessary as LaingO’Rourke wish to progress the bulk excavation and piling work within the park prior to, oralongside, the demolition of the mill.An Archaeological and Heritage Assessment has shown that the study area had begun tobe developed by 1848 with a small row of buildings labelled ‘Longsight Terrace’. By1893-4 terraced housing covered most of the study area with larger building at thesoutheast labelled ‘Carriage and Tramways Depot’. By 1908 a laundry, club and billiardhall were built to the southeast of the Depot. The tramways depot was converted into afactory by 1922 with a mineral water works built immediately to its northwest. This layoutthen continued until the early 1960’s with the terraces and industrial buildings beingcleared between 1963 and 1972. The area was subsequently landscaped into a park duringthe late 20th century.The trenches within the current study area revealed that substantial remains of the terracedhousing survives, at cellar level, across much of the site. Intact wall and floor remains ofhouse ce1lars were uncovered within trenches 2, 3, 4, 5 6 and 8. The nature of the remainssuggested that the buildings may be of a slightly earlier than generally thought for thelarge scale development of Longsight. Some very late remains survived from the mineralwater works within trench 1 and very late structural remains relating to buildings in thesoutheast of the study area survived in trench 9. These remains were, in places, at depthdue to the nature of the undulating landscaped surface