From Mesolithic Encampment to Medieval Estate: The Archaeology of the Bay Gateway: 24 (Lancaster Imprints)

The Bay Gateway, a highway developed by Lancashire County Council and substantially funded by the Department for Transport, was constructed by Costain between 2014 and 2016 to provide a direct connection between the Port of Heysham, on the Lancashire coast, and Junction 34 of the M6 motorway, c 11 km to the north-east.Whilst groundworks at either end of the scheme involved substantial alterations to existing infrastructure within already heavily developed urban and suburban settings, the majority of the newly constructed elements of the route traversed a largely pastoral landscape, parallel with the River Lune.The undulating countryside is predominantly agricultural in nature, with a patchwork of fields and isolated farmsteads.As well as providing the backdrop for the Bay Gateway, the rolling landscape appears to have been attractive to human settlers within this part of the Lune Valley for some 9000 years, from the Late Mesolithic period, through to the Middle Ages and beyond. Excavat