Last month 21 students and 2 teachers from Winstanley A level College came down to help us with the Rectory project. The weather was very kind to us and enabled us to carry out a full programme of activities for them. We split them into three groups and set them about doing height surveying, resistivity work and excavating.
The students showed great enthusiasm for our project and a number returned for our regular site visit on Sunday to carry on excavating with us. It must be said that throughout the day the students were a credit to their teachers and college.
Rectory Update
Having exposed and recorded the fine pebble footpath we have now begun to remove it. In the process we have discovered how well-built this structure is. Lying under the 5cm thick rammed pebble surface is a hard core of building rubble some 20cm deep. The rubble included lumps of brick and large sandstone blocks, some of them 25cm long. The path is about 1.5 metres wide and has a discernable camber. It represents a substantial investment in manpower and was certainly built to last. On either side of the path soil seems to have been put down, probable as part of the landscaping when the new hall was built in 1875. Underneath this, however, (and continuing underneath the path) is black gritty dirt which seems almost certainly to be coal pit spoil. How deep this is and how far it stretches across the site has yet to be determined but it would have been a readily available material to use in those days to level the ground in this area.
Hopefully this means that old Frog Lane will be preserved underneath it (more images of the dig on our Forum).
Roman Road Field Walk
This Sunday, instead of our usual visit to the Rectory site, we will be walking the fields just north of Wigan following the suspected line of the Roman road. Over the years we have been investigating this line and have carried out excavations at Brimlow Farm in the late 1980's and in 2004 (see newsletter 75). Our walk will start there and continue up the hill toward Standish looking for a possible site for further investigation. We will also be looking at Standish Wood Lane as an alternative route preferred by some historians. If you are interested in joining us contact myself or Eric at the meeting.
Workshop and Conference
On Saturday 9th January a one day workshop will be held by William Meredith of the Wirral Archive Services on "Early Wirral". It will cover the period of Wirral's history when it was settled by Celts, Romans, Saxons and Vikings and will look at the historical events and battles, archaeological evidence, etc.
"Masters Of All They Surveyed" is the title of a one day conference to be held on Saturday 16th January at Lancaster University. It will explore the mapping of the North-West of England from the 16th to the 20th centuries.
If you are interested in going to either of these events there will be more details at our next meeting.
WAG
It is now abundantly clear why Tom Glover (our ex-chairman) and Brian Parr have been coy about their activities over the last 12 months. It turns out they have been running a separate society, calling themselves Wigan Archaeological (Discovery) Group. They have obtained funding to carry out surveying work in the Wigan area and have already made a splash in the local papers. Their objection to the planned Boys and Girls' Club development on the Mesnes playing field made headline news in last Monday's Evening Post. I think we should probably distance ourselves from this organisation as they seem to be politically motivated (and don't necessarily have a full grasp of the planning procedures regarding areas of archaeological sensitivity). My worry is that our group will be confused with theirs (which has already happened in last week's Reporter).
Next Meeting
Wednesday 2nd December in the lounge of the Upper Morris Street Working Men's Club (off Greenough Street), starting at 7.30 pm as usual. This month Ian Miller, our friend from Oxford Archaeology North, will be joining us. Over the last few months Ian has been working hard on the postexcavation analysis of the excavations the unit carried out last year in the centre of Wigan. He will be updating us on his latest findings and also exploring the various interpretations the new evidence presents.
As it's our last meeting before Christmas the usual seasonal refreshments will be available.
Hope to see you there - BA
|
