A MEDIEVAL village has been discovered buried in Runcorn as developers were about to build new houses.

A cobbled street and pottery dating back to the 13th century have been unearthed, near Lodge Farm, off Highgate Close in Norton.

Post holes of timber framed houses were identified by archeologists who have spent three weeks excavating the 700 sq m site, after construction was brought to a standstill.

Archeologist Jeremy Bradley, of Oxford Archeology North, said: “Most of the posts found are medieval.

“We have been able to locate the findings on a map of Norton village drawn up in 1757.

“As you approach the street, you can see more activity happened.

“We also found a selection of pottery. Most unusual is a shape of L-shaped stones, which look to be houses depicted on the old map.

“Samples of the soil may contain seeds which will help us find out the diet of the people.”

He hopes to be able to carbon date buckets of organic samples to discover more about the lifestyle of the farming community which occupied the village.

Two undated ditches, he said, could be medieval or earlier.

Altogether, around 80 archeological features were found.

There would have been hundreds of houses in the area in 1757, he said, but by 1844, they had all vanished.

Mr Bradley will compare his team’s findings with records from an adjacent excavation carried out in the 1970s by J P Green.

Social landlord Riverside is constructing three pairs of semi detached homes to be offered to local people under a shared ownership scheme.