Newsletter 103

The Lady Hill Project

Local enthusiast, Bob Hayes from Newton-le-Willows, has been investigating a number of sites in his locality which he thinks may have ancient origins. Of particular interest is this mound which lies on the edge of woodland on the outskirts of Haydock. For some reason Lady Hill, as it is know locally, seems to have avoided the attention of map makers and any reference to it by the 19th century antiquarians. It was certainly around in the 19th century however, as this photo taken in the early 1900s shows quite clearly a clump of mature trees growing on it. Many theories have been linked to the knoll, including the thought that it could be an ancient burial barrow. It was described as such in a book by J H Lane published in 1916, from which the photo is taken. It's a quite plausible explanation as a number of others barrows are known to have existed in the area. Bob asked for our help in trying to unravel the mystery, so last month a small team from the society set off to see what a resistivity survey of the area would reveal. Bob was particularly keen to see if a ring ditch could be detected round the site which could show it to be a barrow.

Unfortunately the survey produced little to suggest the mound's origins, however a number of other features away from the site emerged, including a strange area of very high resistance which has set off a number of other theories. Bob, however, is not deterred by the result from the mound itself and has arranged, in June, for Mark Olly, of the Celtic Warrington Project to do a limited excavation on the site. Mark's remit is only to remove just the topsoil and any disturbed ground so the monument itself will not be destroyed. He is also happy to accept volunteers for the dig, so if you are interested in getting your hands dirty please see me at the meeting.

More Roman Road in Ince

Our intrepid Roman Road hunters have been in the field again. (i.e. Mark Hayward and Brian Parr). This time they have been looking at a section to the east of the area we investigated in 2003 on Amberswood Common (see Newsletter 64 and Newsletter 65). Projecting the line across Walmsley Park between the pond and the railway embankment, Brian thinks he may have spotted an area where the Road might still exist. Also on the other side of the embankment there are possibilities where the line passes close to where the old isolation hospital used to be (Tom says the locals used to think that it was built on a Roman Fort). I have a feeling though that this site is now under land fill, so maybe there's not much chance of proving this now.

CBA Spring Reports Meeting

This year's regional group meeting and AGM will be held at the Lancaster Royal Grammar School on Saturday 12th May. The programme this year includes reports from the Wyre Archaeology Group on their recent work at Nateby and Oxford Archaeology North's work on Backer House Farm at Lancaster University. Pendle Heritage Archaeology Group will also be talking about the Blackburn Hundred in the 13th century and after the AGM there will be talks by Dot Brun on the Portable Antiques Scheme and Lisa Keys about Access to Archaeology in the Lake District. Finally, Ian Miller will present his talk on 19th century Flint Glassworks in Manchester. David Shotter will finish the day with a guided tour of Castle Hill. There will be refreshments and a buffet lunch with an all inclusive cost of £13 (£7 without the lunch). If you are interested in attending please let me know as soon as possible

Summer Trip

As I mentioned in February's newsletter, Peter Connelly, who dug the Gadbury Fold site in Atherton, has moved to York. He is managing the Hungate project, which is a huge undertaking, covering a large area on the east side of the City and is set to last for 5 years. The area is not far from the Coppergate site where the dig in the early eighties resulted in the highly successful Jorvik Centre. Hopefully, this site has the same potential. By this summer the excavations will be well underway and Peter has kindly offered to takes us on a guided tour. The date for the trip is Sunday 19th August. Please let me know as soon as possible if you are interested. To find out more about the site you can check out this website - www.dighungate.com.

Next Meeting

Wednesday 2nd May at the District Scout HQ (Baden Powell Centre) in Greenough Street, starting at 7.30 pm as usual. This month we have John Rabbitt from the Ellesmere Park Residence Association. As you know, John carried out a series of investigations in search of the Roman Road from Manchester to Wigan, as it passes through his area in Eccles (see Newsletter 85). What was particularly interesting about his work, apart from the nice section of Road he found, was the high level of project management, community involvement and funding he was able to attract. His experience will be invaluable as we plan our coming project.

Hope to see you there - B.A.