Newsletter 210

St Wilfred's Historic Graffiti

This time last year, we were given a training session in All Saints Parish Church, on how to spot and record Historic Graffiti in ancient buildings. Although not much Graffiti was spotted on the day, Carolanne King and Ellen McInnes gave us a good grounding in the techniques and we are now ready to take on our first building survey. St Wilfreds Parish Church in Standish was built in the 16th century and is the only Grade I listed building in the Borough. It is thought though, that there has been a church on this site since the early 13th century. The Parish of Standish was huge, stretching from the Boar's Head in Wigan to Bamber Bridge in the north. It included Shevington, Coppull, Welch Whittle and Charnock Richard, extending in the east to include Worthington, Duxbury, Heath Charnock, Anderton and Adlington. The Church is inextricably linked with the Standish family, who built chantries in the 15th century and supplied many of the rectors. It was the family who funded the 16th century rebuild but, as they remained loyal to the Catholic faith during the Reformation, they were not officially allowed to worship there. However, as major patrons, a chapel was built in the church with a side entrance for their private use.

It is a fascinating building and Joe Bazeley, curator, has agreed to allow access for a survey. The date proposed is Saturday 10th March. If you want to get involved please contact me at our next meeting.

Bryn Roman Road Update

Evaluation trenches by Oxford Archaeology North have confirmed the presence of the Roman road at Bryn just south of Landgate Farm. In December (Newsletter 208) I reported that indications of the road had been detected in a trial pit carried out by the developer on the suspect line of the road. Trenches commissioned by GMAAS are now showing that the road survives lying less than half a metre below the surface, up to 7 metres wide with a prominent camber on the east side. It consists of layers of gravel overlaying larger fragments of sandstone. This is great news and Norman Redhead has called for a full excavation of the site prior to development work starting and has invited our members to be involved. Excavations are intended to start on Monday 12th March - if you are interested in getting involved, contact me at our next meeting.

Bolton's Egypt

Bolton's Egyptian collection is nationally recognised as one of the most important in local authority control. With over 12000 items from 65 sites, it has an international reputation for researchers, particularly in the field of ancient textiles. This is because of Bolton's reputation as a leader in the 19th century in the spinning and weaving of fine quality cotton. Mill owners were active in their support for all things Egyptian and in particular the Egypt Exploration Society, raising money for their excavations. Over the years many finds were donated to the Museum, particularly textiles, where specialists were on hand to give their expert assessment.

In recognition of its importance, Bolton's Museum was awarded an initial HLF grant toward redevelopment its Egyptian Gallery which is housed on its top floor. Last year Bolton Council added a further £3.8m to transform the Gallery with the most exciting innovation of an exact life-size replica of the Tomb of Thutmose III. This pharaoh, whose statues still dominate the Egyptian landscape, was builder of huge monuments in his day and his tomb in the Valley of the Kings is one of the most lavishly decorated. The work at the Museum is ongoing but is hoped to be finished and open to the public by the Autumn. In the meantime a series of lectures and workshops will be held at the Museum in preparation for the opening (you can see more detail here http://www.visitbolton.com/node/64).

Next Meeting

Wednesday 7th March. - in the Standish Suite at the Brocket Arms (7.30pm as usual). In view of the exciting development at Bolton's Museum Egyptian Gallery, Ian Trumble will be giving an update on progress, explaining in more detail the history of the collection and what the plans are for the future. Hope to see you then. By the way, regarding your annual subscription, Mary keeps a track of when you last paid so please contact her if you can't remember when it's due, cheers, BA.