York Historic Environment Record

This report presents the results of an archaeological appraisal of proposed water main renewal along Wigginton Road, York for Morrison Utilities Services Ltd on behalf of Yorkshire Water Services Ltd. The proposed renewal will run for about 2.4km alongside the B1363 Wigginton Road, between Wigginton and the A1237 outer ring road, some 4km to the north of York centre. The route will be almost entirely within the western verge of the road, except at Orchard Cottage and Wigginton Cottage, where it will pass into the road to avoid a building and gardens, and at Wigginton village, where it crosses onto the eastern verge for a distance of 140m. The appraisal identified a total of 38 heritage assets within the study area. The only designated heritage assets within the study area are two Grade II Listed mileposts. One of these is located immediately adjacent to the proposed pipeline renewal, opposite Villa Farm, the other lies some distance to the south of the proposed route. The proposed pipeline will be installed entirely within the road and verge, and so will not require a large area of soilstripping. Therefore the likely impacts of the renewal are through the excavation of either launch and reception pits for directional drilling or longer trenches for the installation of new lengths of pipe. The construction contractor must be made aware of the location of the listed milepost and instructed to ensure that it is adequately protected to avoid damaging the structure. In the fields alongside the proposed pipeline route there is evidence for activity during the Iron Age, Roman, medieval and post-medieval periods. However, archaeological monitoring of pipeline installation in similar circumstances has demonstrated that the verge is likely to have been excavated on numerous previous occasions for the installation and repair of other services, and there is therefore relatively little potential for archaeological remains to be encountered. It is considered that no further archaeological mitigation is required for this scheme.