Greater Manchester Archaeological Unit

The Greater Manchester Archaeological Unit was formed in the years following the 1972 Deansgate Dig. As excavation work on Roman Manchester continued during 1980, negotiations with the Greater Manchester Council were proceeding about funding archaeology in the county on a more permanent basis. The conclusion of these negotiations was the establishment of the Greater Manchester Archaeology Unit, to be based at Manchester University but with core funding from the Greater Manchester Council.

In the 1980s professional archaeological research within the city region was undertaken by the newly established Greater Manchester Archaeological Unit. The abolition of the GMC in 1986 saw a new relationship emerge, with GMAU now established as one of the joint planning units funded by the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities, and the University of Manchester in additional support. The newly established GMAU also undertook the first professional excavations in the other nine boroughs of Greater Manchester.

In 1994 the field section of the unit was separated to form the University of Manchester Archaeological Unit; a reflection of the rise of commercially funded archaeology in the Britain during the 1990s, boosted by the implementation of Planning Policy Guidance 16 and the need to separate planning advice from contract work. By the end of the 1990s the city centre of Manchester had become one of the four most active archaeological areas within north-west England, at least in terms of commercially funded archaeology.

March 2011 saw the closure of Greater Manchester Archaeological Unit, but it was reborn in April of that year as the Greater Manchester Archaeological Advisory Service.