Newsletter 151

Silverdale Viking Hoard

This exciting discovery was made last September in North Lancashire and was declared treasure in December by Lancashire deputy coroner. This means that it is likely to stay in Lancashire, with the proceeds from any sale being shared between the finder, Darren Webster, and the land owner. Darren, from Carnforth, found the hoard whilst 'killing an hour or two' metal detecting. The hoard, which consists of coins, ingots, jewellery and pieces of silver, was placed in a lead box and buried in the ground at about the time of the Viking expulsion from Dublin. This was a troubled time in the north of England with the Anglo-Saxons fighting to keep control of the area. Dot Boughton, Lancashire's Finds Liaison Officer, said the hoard was "very significant for our understanding of the Viking presence in the North West". It's the fourth largest to be found in Britain and is not that far away from Cuerdale where the largest ever collection of silver was found in the 19th century.

What is significant about this new find however is that it includes a coin bearing the inscription AIRDECONUT which is thought to mean the Scandinavian name Harthacnut, a Viking ruler not previously known. It also includes coins from the time of Alfred the Great - who reigned from 871 to 899 AD. The collection is currently on display in the British Museum as further research continues.

Etherstone Hall Dig Dates

The dig in Leigh has been scheduled for the week beginning 5th March and will last for two weeks. As mentioned last year (Newsletter 149 & Newsletter 144), Etherstone Hall will be a community event, funded by the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA) and run by the Centre for Applied Archaeology (CfAA) which is based at Salford University. It is the first dig in a series across the Manchester Borough, forming part of the Dig Greater Manchester Project. The team from Salford will be on site on the 1st and 2nd March to set it up and then excavations proper will start on Monday 5th. The dig is open to everyone during the fortnight and places will be available for up to 3 full days (not necessarily consecutive). More may be on offer if there are spaces not taken up. The team will also be on site on Saturday 10th March for those who are working during the week and also Saturday 17th March which will be the open day. The site will then be closed down and any drawing that needs to be finished on 19th and 20th March. This is a great opportunity for anyone interested in archaeology to work alongside the professionals on a site which has great potential. If you are interested in getting involved please contact myself or Eric Walter on 01942 820957 or E-mail eric.walter@hotmail.co.uk with your preferred dates.

Further Opportunities

If you can't make it this time there will be another opportunity in July when the main excavations take place. These could even be at Haigh Hall in Wigan if Etherstone Hall does not produce the expected results (as this is just the evaluation phase of the project). The second phase will be wholly fund by a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund which the Society is currently in the process of applied for.

Change to Constitution

To deal with the grant money involved with the Etherstone Hall and any future projects, it is proposed to make an amendment to our constitution. At present only up to £500 can be signed for by the committee without reference to the rest of the membership. The amendment would allow for the whole of the grant money to be dealt with by members of the committee without having to refer back to the members. The Society's own money, however, would still be protected by the £500 limit.

Programme for 2012

Currently still a 'work in progress' but up to now we have Brian Orr in March who will be telling us about the History of Wigan's Water Supply. Then in April, following on from Peter Leeming's talk last year on WW2 Civil Defences, Mark Gaskell will be giving us more details about Wigan's Anti-invasion Plans. He will also be telling us about Time Team's search for the WW2 bomber which crashed in the marshes of the Ribble estuary.

Next Meeting

Wednesday 1st February - at the Pagefield Hotel, starting at 7.30pm as usual. This month it's our AGM but after the usual Society business there will be a presentation on the work we have been doing at the Wigan Rectory. Over the last month or so, careful analysis of results has allowed us to unravel the complexity of archaeology encountered there. Now at last we can identify, with some certainty, the sequence of activities that have gone on there over the last 3 to 400 years.

Hope to see you there - B.A.