Work finally got underway on our Kirkless project last month and already we have been able to make some significant finds. Our first visit, at the end of April, was planned to coincide with the Kirkless Open Day, which was arranged to celebrate the official designation of the site as a Local Nature Reserve. While we were busy digging our trenches, Mark Champion and his team from the Wild Life Trust, were taking visitors around explaining to them the diverse flora and fauna the site has to offer. In the meantime we were focussing on uncovering the extent of the 19th century Steelworks.
Our first site aim was to uncover the brick pavement which had been detected on previous site visits. This would give us an indication of the extent of the Steelworks in the NW corner. The pavement was only a few cms below the surface, but removing the compacted turf proved to be no mean feat. However a pattern began to emerge revealing the different phases of construction. Some bricks were laid edge on while others were laid flat. The flat ones seem to infill an area which may have originally been left open. In the four corners of this open area were the cut-off stubs of iron tie-bars, suggesting some large machinery or structure that originally occupied this position. We also began probing beyond this area to test the pavement's extent to the NW. This proved inconclusive but did provide us with our first significant find. This was a large iron billet measuring 7cm x 6cm x 38cm long. Whether a piece of pig iron, ready to be remelted in the open heath furnaces, or a steel billet ready to be formed in the rolling mill, isn't clear but it's still quite a nice find, bringing previous activities on the site much closer to us.
Meanwhile, our second area of investigation was getting well underway. Our goal here is to establish the extent of the concrete wall that seems delineate the SW side of the Steelworks. This also proved not to be an easy task, as towards the SE the wall disappears in a deep thicket of brambles. Towards the NW end the wall is covered by a compact layer of turf. However by the end of the day we had chased the wall quite a few metres either way and uncovered the remains of vertical stanchions which once held up the roof of the building. Last Sunday we made our second visit to the Kirkless site. We continued to chase the wall in the direction and by jumping a metre or two we eventually found the end of it. On this second visit we were also able to uncover much more of the brick pavement and may even have found its extent on the NW side. Further visits are panned so please contact me if you want to get involved in this project.
Artefacts and Monuments Record
You may have noticed that, on our website, you can now gain access to our AMR database. You will need to log in using your username and password so please let me know if you need to renew your login details. As mentioned in last month's Newsletter there are over 50 items already in the archive but we intend to add many more, so if you have anything you think should be included, please send me details (with a photo of course).
May Meeting
Derek Winstanley who gave us a brilliant talk last year on Daglish's Walking Horse and the Clarke' Wagon Road, is in Wigan next month (he currently lives in America) and has offered to give us another talk. Unfortunately the only date available for both him and our venue is Friday 22nd May. Rather than miss the opportunity we have decided to reschedule or May meeting to that date (apologies to all those who can't attend).
Next Meeting
Friday 22nd May - in the Standish Suite at the Brocket Arms (7.30pm as usual). This month we have Derek Winstanley as our guest speaker. Derek lives in the US and is only over here on a short visit (that's why we have had to move our meeting date - so apologies to those who can't make it). With help from our Society, Derek has been carrying out research on Wigan's famous Pier. He has discovered some interesting aspects, particularly with its association to the Canal Basin and Douglas Navigation which preceded it. I'm sure Derek's talk, as usual, will be a fascinating one. Hope to see you there, BA
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