From Mesolithic Encampment to Medieval Estate: The Archaeology of the Bay Gateway

The Bay Gateway, opened in 2016, is a new road linking the M6 motorway, north of Lancaster, to the port of Heysham. Its construction has provided an important opportunity to investigate the little-studied early landscape of Lancashire’s rural lower Lune Valley.

The archaeological investigation was focused on seven areas that had been defined by almost a decade of preliminary works. The earliest remains included evidence of prehistoric settlement, at a location that had seen repeated activity in the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods, and during the Bronze Age. The findings make a significant contribution to the understanding of several millennia of human activity that are otherwise poorly understood in Lancashire.

The most extensive remains, dating from the twelfth to the mid-fifteenth century AD, were found on either side of the Howgill Brook. Several buildings, in both timber and stone, as well as kilns and channels, are thought to represent the remains of one or more water mills associated with Beaumont Grange, an estate belonging to Furness Abbey.

This volume arises from the multi-disciplinary approach to the archaeological sites, with the emphasis placed on the integration of a wide range of data. It comprises the work of several authors from Oxford Archaeology, as well as external specialists.