Newsletter 186

Bersham and The Poulton Project

We struck lucky with this year's weather for our annual summer trip, which was particularly enjoyable as our numbers were boosted by members of the Bolton Arch Soc. Our first site, The Bersham Iron Works, lies just off the Wrexham bypass and was first excavated in the late 1980's. A grant from the Welsh Government enabled it to be preserved and the mill building converted into a museum and heritage centre.

Since then, however, some of the remains have suffered storm damage and a lack of funding means the centre is now only open by request. This has not however dampened the enthusiasm of our guide, Steve Grenter, who actually worked on the site in the early 90's. Steve eloquently explained how it was established in the early 18th C when the technique of using coke for iron making was just starting. In 1753 it was taken over by Isaac Wilkinson who expanded the works to produce pots, pipes, rollers and armaments. However it was only when, his son, John Wilkinson, took over in 1763, that the works became a financial success. 'Iron-Mad John' as he was known was an inventor and experimenter. He was able to exploit the demand for cannons for the American War of Independence and later, the Napoleonic Wars. However, at the time it was difficult to get good quality cast iron and to produce accurate bores, so cannon balls sometimes got jammed causing the guns to explode. John however was able to produce the quality needed using airfurnaces to re-melt the iron and he produced accurate bores using a boring bar. Remains of the air-furnaces can still be seen on the Bersham site, as is the blast furnace and the octagonal shed where the canons were cast.

The Poulton Research Project

We met our second guide of the day, Kevin Cootes, outside the electric gates of a huge estate. Once inside, Kevin led us some distance across the remains of an enormous airfield (once serving as training site for bombers in the 2nd WW) to the site which lay in fields at the end of the runway. 'It's insane, it's bonkers', these are the words Kevin uses to describe the amount of archaeology turning up on this multi-period site. Kevin, who is the current site director, gave a very enthusiastic rundown of the site starting with the Mesolithic flints and Neolithic hand tools. The main features on display in the open trench, however, date from the Iron Age. A series of overlapping ring ditches represent the remains of roundhouses, showing occupation over a long period of time. Cutting through these ditches, are Roman boundary ditches that suggests the area became part of a Roman estate. Kevin is convinced there must be a villa somewhere close by (although it could well lie under the concrete of the runway). A 13th C Cistercian Abbey is documented however the remains discovered on the site are of a chapel dating to the 15th C. What is significant however is the large number of burials associated with it. Quite a few have already been excavated but Kevin estimates there could well be hundreds more. This part of the site is currently being used for training forensic students. Kevin is sure that there is huge potential for the site and expects excavations to continue for many years to come. The Poulton Research Project allows volunteer so anyone can come and have a go. After the tour Kevin invited us to tea and cake which topped a very entertaining afternoon - in fact the whole day proved a great success .

Kirkless Progress

Latest developments are that we have uncovered the base of a huge chimney (not the famous 339ft high one unfortunately but one connected to the Steelworks itself). The remains are over 8 metres in diameter and 1 metre high (details on our blog site). This is great news as at last we have a feature that gives us a specific location to match with our survey. Other good news is that we have also been granted an extention to our licence which was due to expire at the end of August.

Next Meeting

Wednesday 2nd September - in the Standish Suite at the Brocket Arms (7.30pm as usual). At our meeting this month Steve Halliwell will be telling us the remarkable story of St Kilda. This remote island, off the west coast of the Outer Hebrides has had a long history of occupation but ended in 1930 when the last families were evacuated to the mainland. Now excavations on the island are being to reveal more about how this isolate community survived for so long. Sounds like a great talk.

Hope to see you there - B.A.