As a society we are keen to maintain a level of activity other than just meeting once a month for talks and lectures, with the occasional trip in the summer. Although this is fundamental to our Society, we feel it is essential for us to pursue field projects that cover a range of activities, from basic research to site surveying and excavation. With this in mind, this year we plan to initiate some new research projects that the Society can pursue which will complement our ongoing investigations. This will hopefully enable members who are not able to do excavation work, to get involved with research such as visiting libraries or visiting sites photographing and recording them.
Town Centre Survey
The aim of this project is to identify and record as many pre 1850 buildings or features as possible that have survived in Wigan's town centre. We will be using the five foot to mile OS map of 1847 as our starting point as it contains much detail from this period. The Victorian era saw rapid change in Wigan, sweeping aside much of the previous architecture. However, we believe there are buildings and fabric that have survived and can be recognised and recorded. As an example, in the Moon Under Water pub in Market Place, there are steps and a stone path which are the remains of an alleyway leading from the Wiend into a courtyard.
This feature can be identified on the 1847 OS map and therefore must be from that period. We have selected the area around the Wiend and Market Place to start with, as we know this does contain pre-Victorian architecture, but eventually we hope to cover as much of the town centre as possible. The recording will involve a photographic survey with notes and perhaps if possible, an English Heritage Level 2 survey.
Routeway Furniture
Eric has started this project with a view to recording as many features as possible connected with our Roadways and Canals; things such as milestones, boundary stones, signs and other similar features. The information will be uploaded onto an internet database which will be available for all to study. Dave Horrocks, our prolific webmaster, is currently writing the software to facilitate this. Meanwhile, if you want to get involved, Eric is going to produce a proforma and a procedure so that we can achieve consistency with our recording.
Graveyards Project
The idea behind this is to identify and record grave stones of interest from all the small churches and chapels around the borough (particularly ones that have been abandoned). This has been done in other regions such as Manchester and Merseyside and it would be interesting to compare results.
Historic Building Survey
This was first proposed a couple of years ago (see Newsletter 141) but as yet has not been initiated. However this year it is hoped that we can get started with perhaps a small survey before we tackle a large complicated building. Eric has suggested the outhouse at the Belle Vue site which would be simple enough for us to get the hang of the equipment and procedure.
We also intend to continue with our survey of the Pingot site, which was reviewed in last month's Newsletter (No. 159). This we hope to be carrying out using a device called a plane table. If you are interested in getting involved in any of these projects please contact either myself or Eric at our next meeting.
Dig Greater Manchester
The next excavation in this series will be held in Moss Bank Park, Bolton, starting on 11th March and running for 2 weeks. It will be carried out on the site of the 18th century Halliwell Bleach Works with the aim of locating the owner's Manor House and a row of workers cottages called Higher Bank.
Also, following on from the last year's Dig GM projects, there will be a series of archaeological lectures and workshops based on the excavations that took place. The next workshop will take place on Thursday 21st and Friday 22nd February and will focus on the processing and analysis of the finds from the Etherstone Hall excavations in Leigh. The workshop will be held in the nearby sixth form college and will run from 10am to 3pm. If you are interested in getting involved in either digs or the workshops, please contact Vicky Nash on 0161 295 4009 or v.nash@salford.ac.uk .
Next Meeting
Wednesday 6th February - in the Standish Suite at the Brocket Arms (7.30pm as usual).
This month it's our AGM but, after the usual formalities, Eric will be giving us a presentation explaining in more detail our future research projects. Hope you can make it, BA.
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