North Pennines Archaeology Ltd regularly undertake excavations in both rural and urban settings, over often very large surface areas and to considerable depths. One of the inevitable and frequent results of an evaluation or other assessment work is that archaeological remains will be found, and that excavation will be required by local or national planning authority before any further development is allowed to proceed.

NPA can assess the most likely areas of the development footprint which will require excavation, based on information provided through desk-based assessments and evaluations, and can advise the county archaeological service if needed. In addition, a staged approach may be suggested to the excavation, which can prove more beneficial if the results prove unsatisfactory in certain areas. Where possible it may also be feasible to alter the design of a development to minimise impact on the archaeological resource, and NPA can liase with an architect or engineer to provide this information. All initial consultation can minimise excavation costs from the outset, and can prove invaluable to any developer.

We can deploy a large team of staff wherever required. All our staff have a wide range of experience in field archaeology, and have worked in everything from simple but expansive rural excavations through to complex and deeply-stratified urban sites, working often within difficult conditions, timescales and budgets.

Excavation can be undertaken in a variety of places, and NPA are used to dealing with difficult or complex excavation situations, such as excavation within buildings, or adjacent to services. We also have experience of excavation for linear developments, such as pipeline corridors or road schemes. We maintain a rigorous health and safety policy, and have trained health and safety officers on our staff, as well as trained first aiders.

On completion of fieldwork, our in-house staff can assess the finds and environmental data from a site, again minimising costs. The site can be written up rapidly as an interim report to aid the progress of the planning process, and our post-excavation team are experienced in bringing reports through to assessment stage, and ultimately publication.