I'm sure everybody will be relieved to hear that the 'Fort in the Wood' has at last been scheduled and is now protected in law as an Ancient Monument (its list number is 1470328). Listing was applied for last year but for various reasons, not least the current restrictions, the process had been delayed. Things came to a head last month, however, when a large excavator was seen on site. It's quite well known that the full extent of the fort spans across two fields at Burscough with only Steve Baldwin's field being available for archaeological investigation in recent years. The actual border line between the two fields is now in dispute and it seems Steve's neighbours were in the process of constructing an access road into the disputed area. This activity however, has fortunately been halted by the scheduling and now, hopefully, any damage to the archaeology can be assessed. Initial assessment, from the photographic evidence, shows that the destruction could be as little as 5%. However we know that Historic England are in contact with the neighbours, hopefully helping them to understand the significance of the fort and offering support on the best way to manage the site. Steve has also had a good response from Historic England with regards to further investigations - with so little understood about the site, it is highly likely he will get permission to continuing his work there.
Now that the site is out in the open, there has been a considerable amount of local interest and this, I'm sure, will go a long way in helping Steve gain the necessary funding required to continue his excavations (he's planning a renewed programme of investigations for next year).
Douglas River Project
As mentioned in last month's Newsletter (No.234), we've initiated this project to enable our members to do some archaeological researching during the lockdown. We've already had a couple of Zoom meetings and areas of interest have been allocated to the various people who have volunteered (about half a dozen so far). At the last meeting we discussed the scope of the project, i.e. what should and should not be included and the area to be covered. We decided the project would be in two phases i.e. an information gathering phase and a reporting/presenting phase. To help with the gathering phase, Dave Horrocks our webmaster, has created a database for the gathered information. It is based on our existing AMR Database (both of these databases are exclusive to our members which are accessed using your username and password - let me know if you've forgotten yours). Dave has also made it easier to gain access from our Wigan Arch Soc website - it's now called Members Area top right on the front page (let me know if you have any difficulty accessing it). Dave has included a Map Version for the database and, as you can see, there has already been a number of items added. This will be very useful in helping to us identify specific locations.
Revealing Magna Trip
Understandably, due to Europe's current predicament, Andrew Birley's fund raising trip to Rome and back on a Vespa, has had to be cancelled. However Andrew and his colleague, Gary Calland are undeterred and have planned a trip around Britannia instead. Andrew tells me it will be a celebration of the very best of Roman Britain, taking in sites as far north as Inchtuthil and the Antonine Wall in Scotland and as far south as Richborough in Kent. It will also include Chester and parts of Roman Wales, Exeter, Bath, London, Colchester, Lincoln, York and many more places between (I'm hoping he will call in at Wigan and Burscough on his way down). This voyage of discovery will still cover more than the 1500 miles, more than the distance from Vindolanda to Rome and Andrew is hopeful it will be just as successful. Their mission, as reported in Newsletter No. 231, is to raise awareness and funds towards the endangered Roman fort of Magna. Their six day trip is planned to set off on Monday 31st August and I'm sure everybody will enjoy following this inspiring journey through the landscapes and places of Roman Britain.- here is the website - Vindolanda Via Britannia. Keep safe - BA
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