5 days ago
Roman artefacts found along Hynet project pipeline route
An archaeological investigation plan has been submitted to Flintshire County Council before work on the new pipeline takes place.
The project involves the construction of a 26km underground pipeline from Elton, Cheshire to the Point of Ayr gas terminal in Talacre - work on which is expected to start this summer.
At the Point of Ayr gas terminal, it will then transport carbon dioxide to a platform in the Douglas oil and gas field in the Irish Sea where it will be pumped into depleted oil and gas reservoirs rather than released into the atmosphere.
The pipeline will capture 109 million tonnes of carbon over 25 years during phase one of operation - equivalent to taking 60.1 million cars off the road for a year.
(Image: Hynet project) A Written Scheme of Investigation (WSI) has been submitted to Flintshire Council - setting out how archaeological investigation will take place along the route ahead of construction.
A total of 79 targeted trial trenches were located to test - of which 45 have already been completed as part of an earlier phase.
Oxford Archaeology were commissioned to undertake the trial-trench evaluation on the 26km route of new pipeline.
Eight of the trenches in Cheshire West revealed a total of 13 archaeological features, alongside a small group of artefacts from just three trenches. A trench to the south of Saughall, near Chester, produced the most significant archaeological features identified by the evaluation; comprised a cobble and sandstone surface (perhaps a footing for a building)and a step-profiled ditch.
Both were associated with Roman pottery, ironwork, and glass dating to the mid-second to mid-third century AD.
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Of the 22 trenches in Flintshire, 14 revealed archaeological features - the earliest datable feature comprised a single pit found on gently sloping ground at Pentre Halkyn, which contained Bronze Age pottery.
The report states that the results of further investigation work to take place will "inform development of an appropriate mitigation strategy for any significant archaeological remains". If the evaluation reveals little of archaeological significance, then no further work may be necessary.
Liverpool Bay CCS seeks approval from Flintshire Council to approve the Written Scheme of Archaeology - which is needed for work to commence.
