Archaeology
AUTUMN / WINTER PROGRAMME 2023 / 2024; All in the Main Hall Mawdesley Village Hall
21st November 10.30-12.00 The Formby (prehistoric) Footprints, Talk by Alison Burns. Amazingly footprints of prehistoric people and animals are preserved on Formby beach
12th December 10.30-12.00 . Mawdesley Moss Finds Project, Update and Presentation on the Project by Peter Cooke and Stuart Jamieson (also see below).
16th January 10.30-12.00 . Dorothy Hawkes, of Lathom Park Trust will present a talk on the history and archaeology of Lathom House. Lathom House has a fascinating history extending from the medieval period, through the civil war and 18th century. Dorothy is well placed to spread the word as trustee and secretary of the Trust. She has enthusiastically participated in the excavations at Lathom House and Park. Several members have expressed an interest in a talk on Lathom House, and I am sure this will be a good one. POSTPONED DUE TO WEATHER
20th February 10.30-12.00 . Peter Wade presented a talk on drainage of the mosses in 1800.
13th March 2.30-4.00 . Excavations at Aspull Prehistoric Ring Ditch and Burial Mound, by Patrick Maloney, Chair of Wigan Archaeological Society.
30th April 10.30-12.00. Postponed Talk on Lathom House (see above)
Date TBC. The Landscape of Anglezarke Reservoirs and Moorland by Derek Cartwright (may also be a follow up walk for those interested)
If you would like to come along to the above and are not on the circulation list as a Group Member ; or present / discuss a topic, contact Peter Cooke via the Link on the Group Page.
PRESENTATION AND PAPERS FOR PREVIOUS TALKS:
FARINGTON HALL EXCAVATION - see Link to the Paper
WINDY HARBOUR EXCAVATION - see internet Link for the talk - suggest you skip the intros as the talk starts about 7 minutes in
CROSTON CASTLE - see Paper attached on Croston
BATTLE OF BRUNANBURH - see the attached document re. Wirral and internet link to the Wiki page
CROSTON DRAINAGE TALK REFERENCES- see attached document in Links
ASPULL RING DITCH EXCAVATION - see link to Wigan Archaeological Society website
MAWDESLEY MOSS FINDS PROJECT
Stuart Jamieson has suggested that we put together a Project recording and cataloguing archaeological finds from Mawdesley Moss. This would include :-
1. The 90 flints I have found from a particular location on the Moss. There is the potential to find more from this site but the landowner is not agreeing to formal fieldwalking so scope is currently limited.
2. The Stephens Collection of 400 flints from the Blackmoor Lane site dug in the 1960's/70s held by Liverpool Museum, but not fully recorded. The Museum also has written material relating to Stephens' activity.
3. The Prince Collection of 60 flints also from Blackmoor Lane which has been dispersed/lost. Stuart is in touch with a lady who found some of these flints back in her childhood and he recently viewed some of the flint held by a local resident.
4. Smaller numbers of flints and other finds recorded in the North West Wetlands Survey Report.
See the picture opposite for an old article and photos relating to the Stephens and Prince Flints.
I have contacts at Liverpool Museum, Portable Antiquities Scheme, and Oxford Archaeology North to validate flints and other finds.
At least initially the emphasis will be on prehistoric flints but there is potential to include other more recent finds e.g. clay pipe bowls or coarse black medieval or other pre c19th pottery. There is also potential to do more fieldwalking if members are interested and we get landowner permissions.
Your assistance with any of the above would be welcome e.g. contacting local farmers and landowners on the Moss to get information about find locations and permission to field walk; contacting local people who may have collected flint or other finds from the Moss ; or in due course fieldwalking. If you can help with any of these or anything else please contact me via the Link on the Group Page.
RIVINGTON FIRES 2018
You may remember the fires that burnt on the moors near Rivington in the summer of 2018. Many of them seemed to have been started by visitors who had used portable barbecues.
Day by day we saw the emergency services on television beating out the flames, helicopters dropping water that had been scooped from the reservoirs and we smelt the acrid smoke that bloomed into the air.
It seemed there could be no benefit to anything or anyone. But there were some as our Archaeology Group discovered when they listened to a talk on "Rivington after the fire". by Derek Cartwright.
The fire stripped much of the vegetation from the moor, revealing the ground underneath and showed the extent of much of the human activity over thousands of years. There were stone circles and graves, details of mines, entries to shafts and tunnels, examples of how the drainage had been changed to direct water into the reservoirs by Victorian builders. See the picture on this page.
There were also puzzles. Was this hill natural or man made? What was a long stone slab covered trench used for?
Archaeology may be about the past but it is fascinating to hear what people did when they lived here before us and understand their imprint on the landscape.