5: Medieval Period Resource Assessment

Chapter 5

The Medieval Period Resource Assessment

by Caron Newman

With contributions by David Cranstone, Chris Crowe, Andrew Davison, Julie Edwards, Geoff Egan, Andrew Fielding, Mary Higham, Elizabeth Huckerby, Mark Leah, Jennifer Lewis, Mike Morris, North West Medieval Pottery Research Group, Michael Nevell, Rachel Newman, Richard Newman, Rob Philpott, Norman Redhead, Peter Ryder, Nick Thorpe, John Trippier, Simon Ward, Rhys Williams, Ian Whyte and Jason Wood.

Introduction shown how research can be productive even in these areas. In eastern much of the Medieval The region has benefited from a number of major settlement pattern is obscured by later development, research initiatives. These include multi-disciplinary and here the evidence is primarily presented by his- investigations at Norton , the moated site of torical research completed 50 years ago or more Old Farm Risley, the Rows in and the (Tupling 1927; Shaw 1956). deserted village of Tatton. These sites all lie in the The region’s SMRs for the Medieval period are south of the region, illustrating one of a number of dominated by rural sites. In total there are around biases and challenges inherent in the nature of the 6500 records for the Medieval period, of which over region’s settlement pattern and the character of its half are rural sites. Many of the SMR entries for ur- geography. Indeed, the most recent synthesis of Me- ban sites relate to Chester and , particularly dieval landscape in the North West does not include defensive and ecclesiastical features. 21% of the en- in its definition of the region (Higham tries can be considered higher status sites, either cas- 2004b). Whilst the degree of nucleation and disper- tles, defensible buildings, moated sites or parks. sion within the settlement pattern is not entirely geo- Around 550 SMR entries, or 8.5% of the total, are graphically related, there are clear differences be- findspots. In addition, the Portable Antiquities tween the Medieval settlement geography and typol- Scheme database holds another 906 findspots for the ogy in to that in Cumbria. The intervening North West (March 2006), most of which (456) are area to an extent shades from the south to the north. from Cheshire and Lancashire (264). This general view is complicated, however, by a broad east to west settlement trend reflecting a Rural Settlement and Land-use movement away from lowland to upland ( 1993) and by numerous more local variations. In ad- Research has concentrated traditionally on nucleated dition archaeological research into both Medieval villages and moated sites. Only in Cumbria has there rural and urban settlement is hampered by the partial been much archaeological research into dispersed destruction of the evidence through 19th and 20th settlements and these have tended to be transitional, century urbanisation and industrialisation, removing seasonally occupied habitations (Lambert 1996; Hair both above and below ground evidence in a belt in- & Newman 1999). In Cumbria and elsewhere in the corporating much of north Cheshire, south Lanca- region valuable research into such settlements has shire, Merseyside and Greater . Docu- been undertaken by historical geographers (Atkin mentary-based reconstruction of Medieval landscape 1985; M C Higham 1996; Winchester 2000b). Only in Merseyside (Lewis and Cowell 2002), along with for the very late Medieval period in the uplands has Lewis’s work (2000) on surviving earthworks of the permanent dispersed settlement been investigated in West Derby Hundred, and Nevell and Walker’s re- detail (Winchester 2000b), though more limited his- search (1998) into the buildings of , have torical investigations have been undertaken of

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Cheshire’s dispersed settlements (N J Higham 1987). able to place the nucleated settlement that developed Excavation for the most part has been concentrated at Tatton Old Hall in the 13th century within a con- in the south of the region, especially on moated sites. tinuum of landscape development (N J Higham One of the larger excavations of Medieval settlement 2000). Elsewhere, the lack of archaeological study of remains undertaken in the region is at the wider Medieval landscape has meant that agricul- (Ch) (N J Higham 2000). Very few of the site com- ture, for example, has remained the province of his- parisons made in the publication of this site are from torians and historical geographers (Singleton 1963; the region, however, because most comparable pro- Watson 1989; Youd 1962), although the county- jects have been undertaken elsewhere, and the region based Historic Landscape Characterisation (HLC) lacks a major archaeological research project such as programmes have mapped elements of Medieval field Wharram Percy in Yorkshire, Raunds in Northamp- systems. Similarly, there have only been a few ar- tonshire or Shapwick in Somerset (Wrathmell 2003, chaeological investigations of other Medieval land- 364). use activities such as fishing and hunting. Deer parks, With the exception of Tatton (Ch), there has been for example, are a common feature across the North little attempt to place settlements within their wider West region, but few have been studied from an ar- Medieval landscape or to examine the interrelation- chaeological perspective. They can be identified as ship of settlements and their agricultural systems. A landscape features within the HLCs, and at Dalton territorial framework not only provides a context for (C), part of the park boundary has been traced on the understanding Medieval settlement but can provide ground (R Newman pers comm). Using documentary the research structure within which a settlement or evidence and field observation, the boundary of Bur- settlement pattern can be investigated (Harvey 1996, ton-in-Lonsdale Chase, partly within the Forest of 34). At Tatton, the excavations lay at the core of a Bowland, has also been traced (M C Higham 1994). project which examined the development of the Within , a complex series of fishtraps manor and its settlements in relation to the tenurial has recently been uncovered at Cowp Scar (C; Fig exploitation of the landscape. Multi-period in scope 5.1). The structures comprise stone and timber walls, and multi-disciplinary in technique, the project was with ponds and sluices, covering an area of approxi-

Fig 5.1 Medieval stone and timber fishtraps at Cowp Scar, on the north side of Morecambe Bay, Cumbria. The arms of the traps are several hundred metres in length (Cowp Scar Research Group).

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Fig 5.2 Maulds Meaburn Medieval Village, , Cumbria (Cumbria County Council). mately 275m by 350m, with further stone structures Survey maps, has allowed settlement density, nuclea- still being revealed. Radiocarbon dates suggest that tion and dispersion to be portrayed (Roberts & some of the traps were operating in the 14th century, Wrathmell 2000a) and appears representative of the but continued in use into the post-Medieval period (J Medieval settlement pattern. This shows large tracts Manning pers comm). without settlement in the uplands and a generally The issues and approaches put forward by the Me- high density of dispersed settlement elsewhere. Areas dieval Settlement Research Group are relevant to the of dispersed settlement have been correlated with region and form a context within which to assess areas of surviving woodland in the late Anglo-Saxon Medieval rural settlement research within the region period (Roberts & Wrathmell 2000b, 87-8), which thus far (Wrathmell 2003). These include: the neces- correspond with the ancient landscape zone defined sity to recognise the significance of dispersed settle- by Oliver Rackham (1986) and contrast sharply with ments and avoid an over-concentration on nuclea- the planned landscapes of Roberts and Wrathmell’s tions; the study of settlements within their estates Central Province in the Midlands. Certainly, the and the context of their territories; multi-period re- North West region contained many forests and search and a focus on periods of transition; the study chases, not necessarily wooded, suggesting that the of local vernacular architecture, and finally, interdisci- model of a closely planned landscape of open fields plinary programmes of research. All these issues had around a nucleated village centre is not generally ap- already contributed to research in the region, includ- plicable. Away from the uplands the only areas where ing an outline research agenda for Medieval settle- dispersed settlement density is not high or very high ment studies in Lancashire (R Newman 1996a, 120- is along the Solway coast and in parts of west Cum- 3). They were at least partially embodied in the Tat- bria (Roberts & Wrathmell 2000a). Even so, in those ton Park project (N J Higham 2000), and informed parts characterised by dispersion, the settlement pat- the approach to the investigation of the moated site tern was often mixed with significant numbers of at Risley (Ch) (Heawood et al, 2004). nucleated village-type settlements (Fig 5.2) existing alongside isolated farms and small hamlets, for exam- Settlement Pattern ple in the Manchester area, the Wirral, the West Lan- cashire Plain, along the Morecambe Bay littoral and The recent mapping of rural settlement in the 19th in the Eden valley. Whilst many hamlets and farms century, as depicted on the first edition Ordnance were associated with curvilinear field enclosures,

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Fig 5.3 Medieval earthworks at Dallam Park, , Cumbria (Egerton Lea). characteristic of assarting, townships characterised by as the features excavated at Hackthorpe (C), where it dispersed settlements, particularly in the Greater was not possible to associate Medieval pottery with Manchester and east Lancashire areas, were often securely dated contexts (Johnson 2004). Elsewhere based around commonfield systems (Fig 5.3), usually such opportunities have often been limited by signifi- centred on one of the principal Medieval landhold- cant post-Medieval expansion and infilling. Region- ings. ally the few projects that have been undertaken have It has taken some time for this picture of the settle- generally concentrated on an extraordinary subset ment pattern in the region to be developed, as the (the failures) of an unusual settlement type (the nu- North West was long considered an area of little in- cleated village). terest. Beresford and Hurst’s national maps of de- The villages of the north of the region exhibit con- serted Medieval villages showed only a small group in siderable elements of planning, stimulated by a pow- eastern Cumbria, a couple of sites in Bowland and erful, presumably lordly, authority, for example in the two in Cheshire (Beresford & Hurst 1971, 34). Yet Eden valley (Roberts & Wrathmell 2002b, 174). The the prevailing view that Medieval peasant settlement villages generally consist of two rows, often with a consisted primarily of villages was reflected in a pre- green and a highway between. The strip-like crofts vious attempt to assess archaeological knowledge and extend away from the central communal village space research in (Clark & Gosling and often there is a back lane facilitating access to the 1976). There was no consideration of dispersed set- rear of the crofts (Roberts 1990). Such settlement tlement and the research need was seen as a require- characteristics can be seen elsewhere in Cumbria and ment to move the emphasis away from deserted vil- north Lancashire, such as and Hale in Cumbria lages towards existing villages of Medieval origin and Yealand Redmayne in Lancashire. Their genesis (Clark & Gosling 1976, 53). This has been done in has been placed in the late 12th century as part of a the last few years in Cumbria, as development threats consolidation of Anglo-Norman power (Roberts have been addressed by limited excavations within 1990). In west Cheshire too, nucleated, planned vil- empty single crofts, especially in the . lages are characteristic of the area. Many retain typi- Remains identified by such excavations are often cally Medieval features such as narrow plots fronting ephemeral or do not form coherent structures, such onto a street with the remains of back lanes separat-

118 Archaeology North West Vol 8 (issue 18 for 2006) Chapter 5: Medieval Period Resource Assessment ing them from ridged and furrowed fields. Other sources and some dating evidence suggests they were villages were based on manor houses, such as Bruera, once widespread at least from the late Medieval pe- where a moated site stands opposite a small 12th cen- riod (Jennings 2003, 33-50). tury church, a few remaining houses, abandoned One of the most significant and widely distributed house platforms and fields with ridge and furrows. categories of buildings from the late Medieval period Similarly, Baddiley (Ch) has a moated site with asso- is the cruck-framed timber building It is one of the ciated enclosures within a large area of ridge and fur- earliest vernacular building traditions to survive in row, and which may be a lost grange of Combermere the North West, of which in 1981, 346 examples Abbey. Cheshire villages also have greens, such as at were known in the region. Within the Mersey Basin, Caldecott Green, where the green consists of nothing where the status of the building can be established, more than a strip of varying width on each side of 27% of the known crucks are associated with mano- the lane. Hetherson Green, near Malpas, is a linear rial estates and 36% with freeholdings, indicating that settlement along a lane, where an unusually wide cruck-frames were often used in the construction of verge suggests the green was probably on a sharp high status buildings (Nevell & Walker 2002, 12-4). bend. Wide verges further along the lane suggest a The 13th century vicarage in Poulton-le-Fylde, Lanca- second green, and it may be that Hetherson Green shire, for example, appears to have been a cruck- developed from an original polyfocal settlement one framed open-hall (Thornber 1837). Few detailed, element of which has been lost. This area of Chesh- local vernacular studies, such as those of McClintock ire has some of the best surviving ridge and furrow in and Watson (1979; 1995), have been undertaken. Of the region, with excellent examples still to be seen at the 70 cruck buildings within , a Hatton, Shocklach and Bruera. few have been dated by dendrochronology; timbers In the Eden valley, researchers have been attracted at Newton Hall have a 14th century felling date to the well-preserved earthworks of nucleated villages (Burke & Nevell 1996, 5) a cruck from Kersall Cell (Roberts 1993a; 1993b; 1996), mainly undertaking has a felling date range of around 1515, and Staircase topographical analysis, with little excavation. Only at House has a felling date range of 1459-60. Apethorn Newby has the below-ground evidence been sampled Fold in Hyde, Taunton Hall, and Stubley Old Hall in to any extent. This excavation remains unpublished and the only Medieval village excavation submitted Fig 5.4 Postholes from a Medieval aisled hall, Mellor, for publication in Cumbria is the recent work at Greater Manchester (UMAU). Rickerby, near Carlisle (Masser forthcoming). Other significant excavations of nucleated settlements, apart from Tatton, have been few. Medieval buildings at Easington in the Hodder valley (L) were investigated over a number of seasons in the late 1970s and 1980s, but remain largely unpublished. Very little work has been undertaken on rural structures in Mer- seyside or Cheshire. At Fazakerley (M) a single croft was excavated in the 1990s, but is unpublished (Wright 1996). At Irby three buildings constructed using dwarf foundation walls were excavated, and at Brunt Boggart, Tarbock a probable cottage was exca- vated (Cowell & Philpott 2000, 126-32), with a sug- gested 13th or 14th century date (Speakman 2000). Most recently, research excavations at Mellor (GM; Fig 5.4) have uncovered four rows of postholes inter- preted as part of a Medieval aisled hall, dated to be- tween the 11th to 15th centuries (Mellor Archaeologi- cal Trust 2006). The settlement at Meols is the chief source of comparative information on Medieval buildings in Wirral. Unfortunately no plans or photo- graphs survive, but antiquarian accounts suggest there were three distinct types of structure. The first consisted of rough stone foundations, into which upright timbers were set, the second consisted of clay walls of rectangular buildings, and the third were simple wattle constructions. Clay walled buildings, known as clay dabbins, are also found in north Cum- bria in the post-Medieval period, but documentary

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Rochdale all have 15th century dates. Documentary and properly assessed. Much of the building re- and other evidence indicates that this Medieval build- cording work has not been reported or published. ing tradition persisted well into the post-Medieval Medieval settlement earthworks have attracted con- period in the North West, unlike other regions. servation designations and have acted as a focus for A number of open halls still survive in the North research, although rare outside the Eden and Ribble West, such as Adlington Hall in , Ordsall valleys. There has been relatively little field investiga- Hall in Salford, in Bolton, and the 14th tion of settlement earthworks but there are indica- century Hall in which is the tions that many were actually abandoned in the post- earliest dated surviving timber manorial hall in the Medieval period. For example the earthworks of the region. Archaeological work on late Medieval halls in scheduled monument at Stock in Lancashire, classed the region has been sporadic, largely focused on Na- as a deserted Medieval village (R Newman 1996a, tional Trust properties. An important survey accom- 118), represent 19th century desertion (Darlington panied the renovation works at , 2003, 80-2). Similarly at park (L) particularly the 16th century South Range (Fig 5.5). At earthworks of buildings and enclosures assumed to Sizergh , an RCHME survey transformed un- be Medieval were shown during desk-based research derstanding of the development of the house, espe- to represent early 19th century emparking (Egerton cially the extent and phasing of the 16th century Lea 2002a). works to the building (National Trust 2000, 44-45). A The study of dispersed settlements is a growing survey of the timber frame of Rufford Old Hall was area of research but aside from Lewis’s work in carried out in advance of repairs to the roof struc- south-, there have been few large- ture. Stylistic and other evidence suggested a date in scale co-ordinated programmes of research into dis- the very late 15th or early 16th century for the main persed settlements in the region. Nationally there are hall and resulted in a reinterpretation of its building still relatively few excavations of dispersed settle- history (LUAU 1996b; 1996c). Ongoing repair work ments (Lewis et al 2001, 13). Excavations at Stephen- at Speke Hall, Merseyside, has revealed a complex son’s Scale (C) uncovered a double-walled farm- sequence of building history still to be fully inter- house, the arrangement of which may have been a preted; survey and excavation has also taken place at combination of storage facility and animal pen. Lydiate Hall and at Samlesbury Hall (LUAU 1997d). Nearby, an egg-shaped, stone-walled structure was Altogether, a significant body of new work has re- interpreted as a longhouse. Phosphate analysis sug- sulted from recording and repair programmes for the gested that the upslope area was occupied by people, North West’s late Medieval and 16th-century secular whilst the lower part was occupied by animals. Small architecture but this remains to be brought together sherds of pottery and radiocarbon-dating indicated

Fig 5.5 Little Moreton Hall, Cheshire (Cheshire County Council).

120 Archaeology North West Vol 8 (issue 18 for 2006) Chapter 5: Medieval Period Resource Assessment that it was occupied during the 12th to 14th centuries. An early investigation of part of a dispersed settle- ment pattern at Ashbeck Gill, near Sedbergh (C), was little considered because it lacked a research context (Wrathmell 2003, 364). The building had a rectangu- lar plan with drystone-built walls, and finds suggest- ing occupation in the 14th to 16th centuries. The set- tlement context for the site is provided by the exist- ing dale-side dispersed settlement pattern of the area (Addyman et al 1963, 33). This highlights one of the difficulties in analysing the development and nature of Medieval settlement patterns in the region. Much of what may have existed in the Medieval period may be retained by the modern settlement pattern (see Winchester 2000b) and is neither abandoned and Fig 5.6 Probable Medieval enclosure on , Cumbria available for investigation nor visible as earthworks. (Richard Newman). The location and small size of dispersed settlements mean they are not as easily identifiable as larger de- research is needed to establish broader regional pat- serted nucleations and are more easily rendered terns. The deteriorating climatic conditions can be ‘invisible’ by later land use. seen in the pollen and plant macrofossil record from Excavations at Powsons Farm near Tebay (C), ex- northern Cumbria, with reductions in agricultural amined the site of a known upland farmstead from indicators and the identification of wetter conditions the 16th century, but found that the house was of on the mire surface of Bolton Fell Moss between cal similar dimensions and dry-stone construction to AD 1258-1395 and cal AD 1298-1428 (Barber 1981, buildings elsewhere in the region considered to be 191) and Burnthill Moss (Tipping 1995). In the Cum- upland Medieval shielings. It was considered by the brian uplands the wetter conditions may have con- excavators that the single-celled building originated tributed to major episodes of erosion at Seathwaite, as a Medieval seasonal dwelling before becoming a Borrowdale (Wild et al 2001) and Langdale in the permanent farmstead. Dating evidence was poor, as Howgill Fells (Harvey et al 1981; Hodgkinson et al most artefacts were derived from the topsoil and 2000, 323-24). none were diagnostically Medieval (Hair & Newman The North West has shown high potential for in- 1996, 189-90). Whilst it may be true that throughout vestigating environmental change and the interrela- much of the North West rural Medieval sites pro- tion of climatic, human and ecological factors, during duce relatively few artefacts, particularly pottery, it the Medieval period. It has suitable deposits that con- seems excessive to claim that ‘excavations within the tain proxy indicators of past environments and has a region have demonstrated a relatively aceramic cul- history of detailed, often pioneering, palaeo- ture in rural areas throughout the Medieval period environmental investigations. It is a region where and until the 18th century’ (Hair & Newman 1996, many types of agricultural activity are close to their 189). No other non-moated Medieval dispersed margins for economic viability and where many spe- farmsteads have been archaeologically investigated cies of flora and fauna are also at the edges of their within the region in any detail. Plant and animal re- geographical distributions. This last factor means that mains from excavated sites have also not been re- land-use patterns and distributions of wild plants and trieved or studied in any quantity, so very little is animals are susceptible to changes in climate or hu- known about the range of crops grown, and how man activities even if those changes are relatively trends evolved over time, nor is there any informa- slight. tion about the physical and genetic types of livestock farmed. Moated Sites The expansion of settlement and cultivation during the Medieval climatic optimum has been identified in There are now over 500 known sites, of which 24% south-east , with a subsequent progressive are scheduled, though some soil and cropmark sites retreat from the 14th century linked to the climatic may still remain undetected (Fig 5.7). In Greater deterioration of the Little Ice Age. Subsequently this Manchester alone, there are 63 certain and 22 possi- model has been applied to the British uplands gener- ble moated sites. Of these, the Medieval halls survive ally (Parry 1978). Within the North West, settlement at and Ordsall, whilst excavated moated expansion led to widespread assarting, land improve- manor houses include Timperley Old Hall in Traf- ment and new enclosure (Fig 5.6). Although different ford and Denton Old Hall in Tameside (Nevell & chronologies of settlement expansion and retreat can Walker 2002). At least 80 sites (15%) have disap- be identified at local scales (Appleby 1978), more peared through urbanisation, industrialisation and

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Fig 5.7 Distribution of moated and defensible sites recorded in the North West (GMAU & UMAU).

122 Archaeology North West Vol 8 (issue 18 for 2006) Chapter 5: Medieval Period Resource Assessment intensive agricultural regimes, and the real figure is Tanner’s Farm were destroyed and new buildings probably higher. In the north of the region the lack raised when the was created in the 15th century of moated sites is mirrored by a greater number of (Lewis 2000, 211-212). At Denton a new wing was fortified and defensible tower houses and halls with builtover the moat in the 16th century (Nevell & towers or tower-like wings. Some were surrounded Walker 2002). At Speke Hall, excavation and dendro- by but they were more often enclosed by chronological dating of the standing building have barmkins (defensive walls). In the North West, shown successive occupation, indicating that the pre- moated sites are usually associated with dispersed sent dry moat may date from no earlier than the 16th settlements, although they can occur within nucleated century (Higgins 1992; Lewis 2000, 345-346). Den- settlements around some higher status sites, espe- drochronology can play a role in dating standing cially manorial centres. They are more often found in structures adjacent to empty platforms, with a poten- isolated situations usually within dispersed settlement tial for establishing a terminus ante quem for abandon- landscapes of farmsteads and hamlets (Lewis et al ment of the platform. At Bewsey, a radiocarbon date 2001, 114). The majority (84%) are considered to be suggests occupation in the early 12th century but tim- moated homesteads. In Cumbria there is a notable bers discarded in backfill of a massive ditch were of group of moats situated on hill tops. The precise na- 16th century date (Lewis 2000, 204-205) demonstrat- ture of these is uncertain and they may not have had ing that here, as on many other sites, the platform domestic occupation on their platforms. buildings were modified and adapted on several occa- Most moated sites lie below 150m OD, many on sions. There is no evidence for standardised building the poorly drained lowlands of the Solway Plain and plans, forms or functions. These appear to be locally south Lancashire, and mostly on boulder clay across developed, with buildings constructed from local the region as a whole (Lewis 2000, 106-107), al- materials. Timber-framed buildings predominated in though there are a small number of rock-cut moats. the lowlands, though dwarf walls might sometimes The majority are single platforms, but 8% comprise be used. Stone was probably favoured in the Cum- either more than one enclosure or elaborate complex brian uplands. Timber and stone bridges are known of platforms and associated ditches. The principal across the region. Resources have not always been platforms tend to be rectangular or square, with a available for analysis of environmental evidence from small number of rounded or oval, trapezoid or po- moat fills though macrofossil remains from Bewsey lygonal forms. The plan forms of sites in south-west were indicative of running water (Innes & Tomlinson Lancashire have been published (Lewis 2000, 112- forthcoming). At Speke Hall insect remains sug- 117) and may be compared with those from else- gested that the early ditch found beneath the mid- where in England (Taylor 1978, 6-11). Fishponds 16th century west range may have been grazed after it have been noted at 42 sites; and other ancillary fea- had been filled in (Kenward & Tomlinson 1992, 78). tures include leats, , bridges and cause- One of the best researched moated sites in the re- ways, chapels and farm buildings. The survival of gion is Old Abbey Farm, Risley (Ch; Fig 5.8) which is embanked platforms in Cheshire and Cumbria may associated with agricultural expansion in the 13th cen- be a consequence of farming regimes which have tury. The project is unique in the region, involving favoured pastoralism. the study of a moated farmstead from fully standing Only about 12% of sites have been surveyed in buildings which were demolished archaeologically detail, and RCHME surveys have been undertaken in through to the total excavation of the moat’s plat- Cumbria and Cheshire where Reynolds and Cocroft have also done some important work (1990; 1991). Fig 5.8 Reconstruction painting by Anthony Padgett of the Occasional use of geophysics has had limited results. timber-framed Hall at Risley, Cheshire (OA North). Archaeological approaches, dominated by developer- funded work, have been limited to the ditches and platforms. There has been little wider consideration of the social aspirations of the owners of moated sites or their impact on landscape management (Roberts & Wrathmell 2002a, 58). There has been archaeological investigation at 69 sites, ranging from small-scale evaluations and watching briefs to exten- sive open area excavations but most saw trench exca- vation in the 1970s and earlier. Moat creation is thought to date principally from the 12th to 13th centuries (Roberts & Wrathmell 2002a, 58). With rare exceptions, the chronological relationship between buildings and their moats is far from clear. Excavation has shown that buildings at

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these sites may date from the 10th or 11th centuries (Ramm et al 1970, 3) and some may have been con- sistently seasonally occupied from the early Medieval period into the 12th century (Roberts 1993b). Others are of later Medieval origin and continued to operate well into the post-Medieval period. The social and estate context of these settlements also seems to have varied considerably. Some were part of long distance transhumance systems where isolated summer graz- ings were being exploited from distant and separated estate centres, as has been proposed for parts of the Howgill Hills (Hair & Newman 1999, 156). Others lay within the main block of territory of an estate or township but were too distant from the principal Fig 5.9 Plan of a Medieval building excavated at Crosedale, steading for daily movement, as has been proposed Sedbergh, Cumbria (OA North). for shieling sites at Kentmere in the Lake District (Atkin 1991, 76). form. The earliest elements of the house formed part Recently there have been important historical stud- of a late 13th century timber-framed open hall which ies and landscape surveys that have greatly added to had been successively remodelled. Without an inten- our knowledge of upland settlement (Winchester sive study of a type rarely possible on most sites it is 2000a; 2000b; Bowden 1996). These, however, have unlikely that the origins of the house would have concentrated on documentary sources and survey of been recognised, since the evidence consisted of a earthwork archaeological remains, which rarely al- few reused Medieval timbers, an excavated beaten lows sites to be dated. Excavation and detailed to- clay floor and some excavated possible padstones for pographical analysis have been limited, and most an (Heawood et al 2004). The artefactual evi- have been largely focused on Cumbria (eg Richard- dence for Medieval occupation was also slight, with son 1979). There has been little investigation of the only seven sherds of Medieval pottery recovered, as variety of building and settlement forms in relation to well as three fragments of late Medieval leather foot- location, function and period as well as the material wear and possible Medieval wooden objects recov- culture and thus interpreted lifestyles of the inhabi- ered from moat deposits (Heawood et al 2004). tants. Many publications are only available in summary form in various journals, as grey literature, or the data Specialist Settlements has yet to be fully processed. Limited surveys of Cheshire’s and Great Manchester’s moated sites have By the 12th and 13th centuries the uplands were domi- been published (Nevell & Walker 2002; Tindall 1985; nated by cattle rearing, through the establishment of Wilson 1987; Williams 1997). The records of many purpose-built cattle ranches known as vaccaries, of- older excavations do not survive or fall short of ten in areas of royal forest or baronial chases. Forests modern standards, such as West Derby Castle were essentially large tracts of land best suited to ex- (Droop 1928; Droop & Larkin 1928) and Mote Hill tensive demesne pastoral exploitation, where deer (Kendrick 1853); and field records for Sefton Old were carefully managed to produce venison, skins, Hall (Lewis 1981) and The Old Hutt (M) (Wrathmell antlers and bones. Alongside the deer, cattle were 1992) are of limited value in interpreting the evi- reared in vaccariae (cattle farms) located in the forests. dence. The vaccaries gave rise to some very characteristic landscape features and settlement forms, which can Seasonal Settlements still be recognised in the modern landscape, for ex- ample in the , where they were One of the most distinctive forms of upland settle- located in side valleys near large areas of hill grazing. ment was the seasonally occupied shieling, and many The centre of a vaccary was essentially a hamlet, with have left archaeological traces in the form of earth- several dwellings and associated farm buildings clus- works and associated dykes. The structures may vary tered together. The settlement was often in a girdle in complexity, form and function but in general con- pattern round the arable area, and footpath and sist of buildings for habitation and work activities bridleway evidence often points to a long-established (Fig 5.9) related to the seasonal exploitation of up- focal point, the vaccary centre or headquarters. Indi- land resources, most commonly summer grazing. vidual vaccaries have been the subject of documen- The archaeological remains of these structures can be tary studies (Winchester 2003) and the settlement isolated, closely grouped or loosely clustered. The pattern formed by them has been analysed (Atkin nature of the landscape exploitation initiated through 1985, 177-9; 1994).

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The vaccary of Sykes, in the (McDonnell 1988, 9). Thus rather than being man- was largely governed by topography, with the settle- aged from a permanently occupied farm, they may ment in the valley floor, and arable land behind the have been run from seasonally occupied shielings settlement. Vaccaries had at least one stock funnel or (Hair & Newman 1999, 156). Horse rearing, too, drift way, where animals were brought down from seems to have taken place in the limestone uplands, moorland. These stock funnels tended to have curv- including within deer parks. Other types of specialist ing boundaries, which allowed for the more con- settlements such as fishing villages and hamlets have trolled movement of animals. The presence of large not been examined. Elsewhere the value of studying holly trees can indicate a Medieval boundary, as the such settlements has begun to be demonstrated trees were used for feeding cattle in the worst of the (Gardiner 1996) but despite the importance of the winter. Some vaccaries, such as Sykes, developed into marine environment to the region, such research is small hamlets in the 16th century but others survived hampered by later coastal development. For example as isolated farms (Winchester 1993, 23-7). The settle- the fishing hamlet of North Houses, known to exist ment form of the vaccary has been the subject of on the Fylde coast in the early 16th century, grew to only one archaeological investigation, at Fold, become (Egerton Lea 2003a). the site of Goldshaw Booth vaccary, where structures Granges were scattered throughout the North were uncovered, but little dating evidence (M C West, including some moated sites such as those on Higham 1968). In Bowland, the remains of the Me- the Wirral (Lewis 1991, 96-7). A few formed ele- dieval vaccaries appear have been incorporated into ments of nucleated settlements but the majority ap- the later settlement pattern. Vaccary farming appears pear to have been isolated farmsteads. Very few to have been in decline by the later 14th century granges in the North West have been studied (Porter 1980, 27). archaeologically, apart from some of the moated sites In some uplands, particularly on limestone, sheep of Merseyside and Cheshire, such as the site at Brom- rearing took place in bercarii. The settlement patterns borough which belonged to St Werburgh’s Abbey in are similar to those of the vaccaries, and sheep folds/ Chester (Chitty & Warhurst 1979). With regard to the sheep shelters still survive on the upland grazing. In establishments of the military orders, the accepted some former bercarii the remains of sheep huts can be view, based on the documentary record, was that the identified within the in-bye land. These were often North West lacked preceptories (Gilchrist 1995, fig owned by the monastic houses and used as summer 34). Recent survey work in advance of the upgrading grazing as part of a transhumance system of the A66 trunk road has shown that Temple Sow-

Fig 5.10 Excavation of a section across the Carlisle City Ditch, Rickergate (Carlisle City Council).

Archaeology North West Vol 8 (issue 18 for 2006) 125 The Archaeology of North West England erby in Eden was not only the site of a Tem- physical characteristics of towns, for example, they plar’s preceptory but may also have had an Hospi- held markets, exhibited similar plan components to taller’s establishment nearby (NAA 2003). boroughs and sometimes had friaries. The larger market villages do not seem to have been urban Urban Settlement (White 1996, 127), but work on Extensive Urban Surveys (EUS) suggests they had at least a proto- There were relatively few towns in the North West in urban function and appearance, for example Black- the Medieval period. As a region it was relatively burn, (L) and Ulverston (C). thinly populated and, outside Cheshire, underdevel- Relatively few excavations have been undertaken in oped economically in comparison to other areas of Cumbria’s towns, other than in Carlisle, where exca- England. Chester was the only city in terms of size vations in the northern Lanes identified well- and regional status, and was described as such in Do- preserved sequences from probably the late 12th to mesday Book. Carlisle was also important, since like the early 16th centuries, including timber and later Chester it was the seat of a bishopric and also had a stone-footed buildings (Zant forthcoming b). The strategic position on a national boundary, in this case lanes from which this part of the city took its name the Anglo-Scottish border. Defensive walls were built have been shown to date from the 14th century. Simi- at both Chester and Carlisle (Fig 5.10). Few other larly, excavations on Castle Green uncovered well- towns were of any significance at a national scale and preserved stratigraphy of 12th to 13th century date, the overwhelming majority were chartered boroughs, including the remains of timber buildings to the deliberate creations of the 13th to 14th centuries, with north of the city ditch, and well-preserved organic a characteristic planned layout. Only a sample are material within the ditch itself. To date, however, recorded in West’s (1983) composite list of previous much of this material remains unpublished. national surveys of boroughs, and smaller Medieval Small-scale work has been undertaken in Egremont towns like Warton and Hornby in Lancashire, are not (R M Newman 1988a), Cockermouth (Leech forth- included. A number of urban communities, though coming) and Penrith (Newman et al 2000), but it is not chartered boroughs, functioned and had the Kendal that has received the most attention since the mid-1980s (Fig 5.11). Two relatively large areas have 5.11 Excavation of a stone-lined kiln in Elephant Yard, been excavated, one on either side of Stricklandgate Kendal, Cumbria (OA North). (R M Newman forthcoming) and a further major area in Highgate, together with two further areas to the south. Where street frontages have been available for investigation, evidence has been produced for a planned layout from the 14th century or earlier. At Stricklandgate, a complete sequence of structures from the 14th century onwards were recorded some 13m from the street frontage (Hair & Wild unpub- lished; R M Newman forthcoming). Medieval build- ings were built of timber or cob walls, and stone was not introduced until the early post-Medieval period. Some evidence for industrial use has been found, including a hearth close to the street frontage of Stricklandgate, and a kiln of unknown purpose close to the back of a burgage plot. In Lancashire, Lancaster has been the subject of the most recent archaeological interventions, al- though work has concentrated on the Mitchell’s Brewery site in Church Street, which had been dis- turbed by later activity. This demonstrated that many of the Medieval plot boundaries echoed those of the Roman period, never deviating more than 1m, and suggesting some continuity of use. The final Roman structures were stone-built and apparently survived to an extent which dictated the layout of the Medie- val town (Howard-Davis et al forthcoming). Excava- tions on the site of the market suggests that this area lay at the southern extremity of the town, as shown on Speed’s map of 1610 (Drury forthcoming). After Lancaster, has probably had the most ar-

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5.12 Sequence of Medieval stone buildings associated with the college of St. John's Church, revealed on the site of Chester Amphi- theatre (Chester Archaeology). chaeological excavations undertaken in Lancashire . This examined the back plots of Medieval (ten since 1992 at the time of writing) but all are properties, which had been heavily disturbed by later small-scale, limited investigations lacking in a re- activity. Excavations in , and search context. In total they add little to the history Macclesfield have looked at Medieval deposits, in- of the town as recorded by Philpott in 1988. In Man- cluding features associated with salt production, as chester, excavations have been undertaken on the well as deep organic deposits and waterlogged wood defensive ditch, known as Hanging Ditch. This en- (Cheshire County Council 2004, M Leah pers closed a promontory overlooking the confluence of comm). There has also been considerable work un- the rivers Irk and Irwell, and encompassed both the dertaken in , concentrating on specific castle and church that formed the historic core of the aspects such as the castle, friary and moated site. Medieval settlement (M Nevell pers comm.). In Mer- There has also been a recent excavation of parts of seyside, archaeological investigation has been limited the burgage plots, particularly in the Bridge Street mainly to Prescot, where six area excavations and a area which has produced the largest group of Medie- number of watching briefs had been undertaken by val pottery yet recovered from the area of the Medie- 1988. Even there, Medieval deposits had been heavily val town. disturbed by later activity (Philpott 1988, 31). In Liv- Chester is the only designated AAI (Area of Ar- erpool, the only major excavations have been close to chaeological Importance) in the region and one of the site of the castle, and these revealed little about only five in England. There has been more extensive the Medieval town (Davey & McNeil 1980, Philpott archaeological investigation in Chester than in any 1988, 40). other urban area in the North West (Fig 5.12). Be- Cheshire, too, has had a varied history of archaeo- tween the and the Dissolution, logical intervention and most work has been small- Chester was the principal urban centre of the region, scale. It is only in the salt towns that any significant as the of a major Norman earldom until 1237, work has been undertaken, though the number of and then as the headquarters for the English con- investigations has increased in recent years. Amongst quest of North . Prosperity and growth at- the small-scale excavations was an evaluation in tended this status. The city had a full range of Medie-

Archaeology North West Vol 8 (issue 18 for 2006) 127 The Archaeology of North West England

thought to be a post-conquest creation, but there is a great paucity of evidence for the first 150 years or so following the Conquest. At the very end of the Me- dieval period, there is some evidence for new build- ing forms and a breaking away from a rigid attach- ment to street frontages, a development which be- comes more noticeable after the Dissolution, when religious precincts become available for secular de- velopment. Chester’s city walls survive as an almost complete circuit and are recognised as an internationally im- portant monument. They incorporate half the Ro- man fortress wall circuit but with major extensions on the west and south to the River Dee. The surviv- ing elements comprise the curtain wall, sometimes with a bank, and mural towers, which come in a wide range of styles and conditions. Missing elements in- clude the majority of the gates and the ditch. The monument as it survives today has been subject to repair and adaptation throughout its history and forms a patchwork of masonry from all periods. As an archaeological resource, it has been much studied over a long period, although frequently in a piece- meal fashion. Investigation has included historical research, survey, research excavation and rescue ex- cavation resulting from restoration projects, which has produced a large quantity of published and un- published material. The main research concentration, Fig 5.13 Lead of Peter, of Chester 1075-85 however, has been on the Roman period, and the (Chester Archaeology). major element of investigations attached to restora- val urban institutions, including castle, walls, abbey, tion projects has been the post-Medieval structure. churches and other religious houses. The main Consequently, the development and structure of the streets were occupied by closely packed tenement walls during the Medieval period is not so well un- plots which developed into the Rows. However, derstood. Rescue excavations have demonstrated the there remained much open land and even agricultural archaeological potential of the gates and ditches activity within the walls. Chester was a sea-going port (Alebon et al 1976; Ward 1992; Ward et al 1993). The and had widespread trading contacts, though the silt- former can survive well below ground but are diffi- ing of the River Dee was of increasing concern cult to access as they lie beneath major thorough- through the period. Chester’s Rows are a large and fares. The ditches have proved to be a rich source of nationally important collection of Medieval urban well-preserved organic and other finds. houses, which have been systematically and exten- sively studied, most recently in the Chester Rows Ritual, Religion and Ceremony Research Project (Brown 1999). Medieval structures survive near complete or as fragments within later Religious Houses buildings. Demolition and replacement of Medieval buildings was less likely than updating, at least until In the North West, unlike southern England, there the later 19th century. Buildings comprise both sand- was no strong tradition of monasticism at the time of stone and timber-framed elements, and they appear the Conquest, and no evidence for continuity of a to date largely from the mid-13th to the mid-14th pre-Conquest house into the post-Conquest period. century. Extensive excavations have been carried out As the Normans moved into the North West, Bene- in the yards and backlands behind street frontage dictine monasteries or were established at properties (Ward 1988). Rubbish and cess pits have Chester, (M), Lancaster, Wetheral (C), proved a rich source of evidence for site use, domes- and St Bees (C). A later foundation at Upholland (L) tic and manufacturing activity (Fig 5.13). Only rarely, in 1319 is notable as the last Benedictine house to be however, has it been possible to relate evidence for been founded in England. The relative rarity of mo- specific building structures with excavations to their nastic houses at this period may have been caused by rear, and the majority of excavated evidence remains the tensions between England and Scotland, or a unpublished. The Medieval property strips are reflection of the sparse settlement of the area. The

128 Archaeology North West Vol 8 (issue 18 for 2006) Chapter 5: Medieval Period Resource Assessment sparse nature of settlement, and the availability of out a hospital to provide assistance for the elderly or vast areas of unimproved land in the North West the infirm. Few of these houses were extensively en- encouraged colonization by the reformed monastic dowed, and their buildings were far more modest orders in the second quarter of the 12th century. The than those of the more established orders. first and most important Savigniac foundation in the There are a number of short-lived houses, most of British Isles at Tulketh (near Preston) dates from which were closed to move to more favourable sites. 1124. The site was only occupied until 1127 when the These include (L) which moved to monks transferred to (C). The Savigniac or- Kirkstall, Wyresdale (L) which moved to Ireland, der also founded Combermere (Ch) (1133) and Cal- Preston Patrick (C) which moved to Shap, der (C), a daughter of Furness (1134, later refounded (Ch) which moved to Norton (Ch), (Ch) 1142). Furness, Combermere and Calder, along with which moved to (Ch), Poulton (L) which the rest of the Savigniac order, were amalgamated moved to Dieulacres in (Emery et al with the in 1147. Further Cistercian 1996), and Stanlow which moved to Whalley. Mob- houses were founded at Vale Royal (Ch), Sawley (L) berly (Ch) was taken over by Rochester, and Warbur- in the and at Holme Cultram (C) on the ton (Ch) by Cockersands (L). It is uncertain how southern shore of the Solway. A late Cistercian foun- complete the monastic structures of some of these dation was at Whalley (L) in 1296, having transferred shorter lived houses were. Poulton and Stanlow, from Stanlow (Ch) on the Mersey estuary, which had which operated for 61 and 126 years respectively, can fallen victim to incursion from the sea. Other re- be assumed to have had well-established monastic formed orders included houses of Augustinian can- complexes, but investigation at Warburton, which ons at (Ch), Carlisle, Lanercost (C), operated from more than 60 years, has failed to lo- Conishead (C), (L) and Cartmel (C), cate any monastic period remains (M Nevell pers whilst the Premonstratensians, whose austerity comm.) matched that of the Cistercians, established houses at Monasteries had a significant impact on the land- Cockersand (L) and Shap (C). The Gilbertines had a scape of the North West. The greatest impact was small house at Ravenstonedale (C) from c 1200. After that of the Cistercians, and other orders used them to the beginning of the 13th century, benefactors pre- model the management and exploitation of their es- ferred to found houses of friars, with houses in many tates, notably the adoption of the grange system. The of the towns, such as Appleby, Carlisle, Chester, Lan- former abbey sites of Darnhall and Poulton were caster, Penrith, Preston, and Warrington. By the end retained as granges. The chapel at the latter has been of the century few settlements of any size were with- investigated archaeologically but generally they have

Fig 5.14 Sawley Abbby, Lancashire (Andrew Davison).

Archaeology North West Vol 8 (issue 18 for 2006) 129 The Archaeology of North West England

Fig 5.15 Norton Priory (Cheshire County Council). been little examined. Some granges, rather than being during the 19th century, with a particular focus on simply agricultural enterprises, also functioned as Cistercian sites. There were excavations at Sawley country retreats for their . and Ince (Fig 5.14) in the early 1850s and again in the 1870s both served the of Chester and have substan- (Walbran 1852-3; 1876), at Shap in 1889 (Weston & tial masonry survivals. The Cistercian economy, at Hope 1889), and at Furness at the end of the century least in the north of the region, was based largely following earlier clearance from the 1840s (Hope upon sheep farming, but there were also important 1900; Brakspear 1901; Harrison et al 1998). Limited cattle and horse rearing economies (M C Higham excavations were carried out at Holme Cultrum soon 2003a). Furness had major pastures in Cumbria and after, (Hodgson 1907) and also at Whalley in the in the , whilst Holme Cultram pastured 1930s, following earlier clearance from the 1790s. thousands of sheep on the Solway marshes. Other These early excavations tended to focus upon the resources were also exploited; iron was worked in church and the immediate buildings of the , as Furness, whilst Calder, Furness and Holme Cultram did excavations on the houses of other orders such extracted salt around the west Cumbrian coast and as Burscough (Bromley 1890), Cockersand also controlled extensive coastal fisheries. Furness (Swarbrick 1923) and Conishead (Kelly 1930). Mod- and Holme Cultram had close trading links with Ire- ern research excavations have been carried out on a land, and developed port facilities to encourage number of monastic sites. Norton stands out as the these. Furness built and maintained a castle on Piel most extensively excavated monastic site under mod- Island (from 1327) to defend the nearby port, and ern conditions in the country (Greene 1989; Fig also established a courthouse at Dalton. 5.15). The post-excavation programme is still in pro- Furness was the first of the major monasteries to gress. be dissolved in England (1537) and at this time it was Medium- to large-scale, modern excavations have the second richest Cistercian monastery in the coun- been carried out at Chester Abbey and Chester Do- try. By 1540, all monasteries in the North West had minicans (Ward 1990; Ward 2000a), of which the been swept away, the majority demolished and recy- latter is published. Excavations in the past have also cled for building material. Only Carlisle and Chester been conducted at Vale Royal (LUAU 1997a; 1998a; cathedrals, and a few churches which were granted to 1998b; McNeil & Turner 1990; Thompson 1962) and local communities, such as Cartmel, Holme Cultram, Chester Nunnery, both of which are published. Lanercost and Upholland, were retained for worship. There have been small-scale excavations at Furness Archaeological interest in monastic sites developed Abbey including important work in the southern half

130 Archaeology North West Vol 8 (issue 18 for 2006) Chapter 5: Medieval Period Resource Assessment of the precinct (Wood 1999), at various locations in Wild & Howard-Davis 2000). and around Whalley Abbey (LUAU 1991a; 1991b; Although there has been extensive research into Lloyd Evans Prichard 2002), in the south cloister documentary records of monastic sites of all kinds, range at Sawley, 1977-84 (Coppack et al, 2002) and and their estates over the past 150 years, archaeologi- the monastic precinct at St Bees. cal excavation and recording has concentrated almost Recording of standing remains using modern tech- entirely on the remains of the claustral buildings of niques has only been carried out extensively at a few the larger monasteries. The exception is excavation at sites. The Furness Abbey Survey Project, undertaken the tiny Gilbertine house of Ravenstonedale carried by LUAU, was one of a number of historic fabric out in 1928-9 (Frankland 1929, 1930; Turnbull & surveys initiated by English Heritage in the 1980s. At Walsh 1992). Apart from the published excavations the time Furness was the largest and most complex at Warrington Austins (Heawood et al 2003) and site for which complete survey had been attempted. Chester Grey Friars (Ward 2000a), little work has The results await full publication (see Wood 1992 been carried out on the lesser monastic sites such as and forthcoming; Keevill Heritage Consultancy 2004; friaries, nunneries or hospitals; nor has there been PLB Consulting Ltd & Associates 2004). Historic extensive field investigation of the archaeology of fabric surveys have also been conducted at Whalley monastic granges and estates in the region. Limited Abbey (L) (LUAU 1991a; 1997b; Lloyd Evans Prich- excavation at the Hospital of St Saviour, Stydd in the ard 2002), Chester Abbey (Ward 1998; Ward 2000b), 1960s (Edwards 1977b) has been interpreted as the , Birkenhead Priory (Davey & remains as a Mithraeum. Lewis 1991; Lewis 1992a; 1992b) and Lanercost Overall the region has made small contribution to (Summerson & Harrison 2000). Targeted recording the national research agenda for understanding the was also undertaken at Calder Abbey during consoli- social and economic impact of Medieval religious dation works in 1995-96 (J Quartermaine pers houses and the post-Dissolution histories of their comm). A range of developer-funded small excava- estates. Considering that religious houses and their tions and watching briefs have seldom achieved more estates represent some of the most substantially sur- than a passing mention, although there are excep- viving archaeological sites and buildings of the pe- tions at Lanercost and Cartmel (eg Whitworth 1998, riod, there has been relatively little new research in Fig 5.16 Church, showing the Early English Chancel one of the finest surviving examples in the region (UMAU).

Archaeology North West Vol 8 (issue 18 for 2006) 131 The Archaeology of North West England the last 50 years beyond the work at Norton and longitudinal aisled churches in Europe, and Warbur- Furness which both remain largely unpublished. ton church is probably of the same date (UMAU 1999a). The latest to be built, St Lawrence’s in Parish Churches and Chapels Denton, is mid-16th century (Nevell & Hradil 2005b). In plan these churches fall into two groups; aisled The distribution of Medieval churches and chapels structures (, Marton, Peover, Warbur- across the North West was relatively sparse, reflect- ton, Whitegate) and linear, single bay structures (the ing the largely dispersed and small population, and rest). Most began as chapels and it seems likely that was dominated by monastic estates such as Furness their status as subsidiary religious sites may have led Abbey, Whalley Abbey and St Mary’s Priory, Lancas- indirectly to their survival through the absence of a ter. Even so, churches and chapels are among the wealthy patron prepared to rebuild the chapel in most common surviving Medieval buildings. In Lan- stone or brick. cashire, their physical development has been analysed Considering their importance as the richest surviv- in detail by the , but in the ing resource for studying Medieval communities, North West in general, there has been little archaeo- their places of worship and burial, there has been logical investigation of churches and chapels, either remarkably little recent research into or archaeologi- of their standing fabric, or on below-ground remains. cal investigation of Medieval churches and their con- A small number of watching briefs have been linked text in villages and towns. The repair, renovation and to re-ordering and landscaping works, for example at development of Medieval church and chapels appear St Mary’s Priory, Lancaster, and at St Bartholomew’s seldom to have been the subject of archaeological Church, where a section was recorded evaluation or recording. through the churchyard wall and a number of Medie- val architectural fragments were recovered. Overall, Crosses however, there has been no analysis of the distribu- tion of Medieval places of worship nor their relation The scarcity of churches may have been supple- to earlier estate and parish centres. Medieval Lanca- mented by preaching crosses, though the nature or shire had 52 parish churches and 92 chapels, of purpose of many standing stone crosses is uncertain. which 29 churches and three chapels may have had Survival is best in churchyards, but there are also pre-Conquest origins. Only four, however, have any Medieval crosses sited in moorland and open coun- known pre-Norman masonry, and only another ten try. Crosses also marked the boundary of monastic are known to have Norman fabric. Early English estates, such as the well-preserved group of cross work from the 13th century is almost as rare (Fig bases connected to Vale Royal Abbey (Ch). Wayside 5.16). Most surviving churches appear to date from crosses were often placed along Roman roads, such the 14th century or later, and many seem to have been as those on the line between Wigan and Standish, substantially rebuilt in the 16th century, often fol- and perhaps confirm the continuity of use of those lowed by extensive remodelling in the 19th century routes. There were also market crosses in many of (Nevell & Hradil 2005a, 13-27). In some cases, altera- the boroughs and market villages, some very elabo- tions may mask earlier fabric. At Poulton-le-Fylde, rate. These do not survive so well, as they were often for example, recent restoration work has shown that moved or have disappeared from an inconvenient a documented rebuilding in the 16th century was in location with the advent of trams and the motor car, fact a refacing of the original fabric. Beneath ashlared and others were rebuilt to commemorate occasions stonework, the original Norman masonry and fenes- such as ’s jubilees. The market cross tration survived intact (Storey 2001, 37). in Ormskirk (L), for example, was replaced by a fine Most churches and chapels were stone-built, re- clock tower in the late 19th century. flecting the importance of these buildings to their local communities (Nevell & Hradil 2005b). There Technology and Production were, however, a number of timber-framed churches in the region, representing 10 of the 27 timber- Iron framed chapels and parish churches which survive in England, although few survive complete. Those in There are just over 200 known bloomeries in Cum- the townships of Baddiley, Holmes Chapel, Lower bria (Fig 5.17), though there are some problems with Peover, Marton, Siddington, Swettenham, and duplication and misidentification, and upstanding Whitegate lie in modern Cheshire. The churches and earthwork sites are still being identified. Recent work chapels in Chadkirk, Denton and Warburton now lie on the Cumbrian bloomeries, however, has produced in Greater Manchester and have been recently stud- several radiocarbon dates spanning the Medieval pe- ied by the University of Manchester Archaeological riod, from the 12th century onwards (J Hodgson pers Unit. The parish churches at Marton and Lower Pe- comm). The Greater Manchester SMR lists eight sites over, both 14th century, are considered the oldest from above- or below-ground field evidence and fur-

132 Archaeology North West Vol 8 (issue 18 for 2006) Chapter 5: Medieval Period Resource Assessment

trict research project range from the 12th to the 16th centuries AD, but have not yet been systematically related to site type. The Castleshaw (GM) site is also dated to 12th to 14th centuries. Recent excavations at Whitecarr Lane (GM) and Gadbury Fold (GM) have given late Medieval dates for bloomery-related de- posits, on ceramic evidence. The geophysical element of the Lake District project has shown that with high-resolution magnetometry and filled-colour con- tour plotting, in situ bloomery furnace bases produce a very clear orientated-dipole signature; the potential for non-invasive archaeomagnetic dating from the orientation of the dipole is currently being investi- gated. The field survey element of the project has indicated a very marked size range, from under 10m3 to over 1000m3 for seemingly-undisturbed sites. The relationships of site type to Medieval tenurial ar- Fig 5.17 Colour contour plot of magnetometer survey data for rangements, including monastic estates, are under a bloomery at Farwell Hill, Nether , Cumbria investigation. Water-powered bloomeries remain very (LDNPA). much under-identified and under-studied, both re- gionally and nationally. The Lake District project has ther sites are known solely from documentary refer- surveyed and dated two sites at Belham Tarn (cal AD ences (N Redhead pers comm). Remaining counties 1420-1440) and Black Moss Pot (cal AD 1430-1650) contain few known sites, though a 15th century wa- and at least two further sites have been identified as ter-powered bloomery has recently been identified at either Medieval or post-Medieval. The Little Moreton Little Moreton Hall (Ch). Iron mining has received Hall (Ch) site is of late 15th century date and, unlike very little archaeological attention, either regionally or the currently-identified Lake District sites, is on a nationally; the MPP Step 3 assessments (Instone secular magnate’s estate rather than a Cistercian mo- 1995) remain the only national survey, while the nastic estate. Furness Iron survey (Bowden 2000) includes profes- Finally, recent research on the continent sional surveys of sites in Furness and Eskdale; how- (Magnusson 1995), indicates that the blast furnace ever none of the sites in either coverage include de- was present in central Sweden by the mid-12th cen- monstrable Medieval features, and field evidence for tury, and was widespread in parts of Sweden by the historically-documented Medieval mining in Furness following century; 13th century furnaces are also now has yet to be definitely located. known from Germany and Switzerland. These early No iron mining or other extraction has yet been furnaces appear to be consistently sited in relation to located on the coalfields of the region. As regards oxide/low phosphorus ores. This evidence chal- smelting, the Lake District iron industry has had a lenges the conventional assumption that the blast strong tradition of research from the late 19th century furnace was first introduced into Britain in the Weald onwards (eg Collingwood 1902, Fell 1908, Parker & (a carbonate/high phosphorus orefield) at the end of Fair 1922, 1925, Bowden 2000). Research and site the 15th century, and only later spread to northern identification by Davies-Shiel continues in Cumbria, England. The possibility of Medieval blast furnaces and the Lake District National Park and National of Nordic inspiration must now be seriously consid- Trust are undertaking a programme of assessment ered, especially in the Lake District. survey and targeted geophysical survey and radiocar- bon dating (Cranstone & Irwin forthcoming). Else- Lead and Copper where bloomeries have received little attention, apart from the work of Norman Redhead (1995; 2003-4) in The region’s main lead orefields are the North Penni- Greater Manchester. The recorded distribution of nes and Lake District, with localised lead mineralisa- sites is probably skewed by biases in both research tion elsewhere. The major lead orefields of Flintshire, and site survival, and may particularly under- Derbyshire, and the Yorkshire Dales are just outside represent sites on the now heavily urbanised and in- the region, but associated smelting and lead/silver dustrialised coalfields and areas of agricultural im- processing may fall within the boundaries. Many of provement. Research in Cumbria has concentrated the lead ores are argentiferous, and may have been almost entirely on non-invasive fieldwork, whereas important silver producers in the earlier work in Greater Manchester has centred on excava- (Blanchard 1992). There is documentary evidence for tion. exploitation of the Alston Moor mines from the 12th The radiocarbon dates from the current Lake Dis- century, and Fletcheras mine near Garrigill is specifi-

Archaeology North West Vol 8 (issue 18 for 2006) 133 The Archaeology of North West England cally mentioned in the 15th century (Raistrick & ley Edge which was worked in the Bronze Age, Ro- Jennings 1983, 46-50). Field evidence for 11th to 12th man and post-Medieval periods. Medieval copper century mining at Browngill, also near Garrigill, ap- mining in England is very poorly known, either from pears to have been found in the 19th century documentary or field evidence. A consequent as- (Raistrick & Jennings 1983, 46-7). The 12th century sumption in the literature that copper was not ex- mining on Alston Moor may have been on a massive ploited between the Roman period and the 16th cen- scale, with mining and water-management features. tury requires challenging. There is documentary evi- The main Medieval lead smelting process was the dence for 15th century Crown mining in the Keswick bole/bale, followed by washing and resmelting of the area, including the introduction of German experts, slags in a blackwork oven (Willies & Cranstone 1992, but field evidence has not yet been located; Shaw Kiernan 1989). More sophisticated furnace lead- (1983, 7-8) suggests Goldscope as the location. The smelting processes may have been in use, especially technology of Medieval copper smelting appears to at Crown mines. be unknown, though water-powered shaft furnaces Medieval lead-mining has received virtually no ar- may have been used. chaeological study within the region, and substantial field evidence is likely to survive within the multi- Coal period mining landscapes of the North Pennines. Medieval evidence may be more easily identifiable at The main coalfields are in west Cumbria and Lanca- outlying sites such as Ashknotts, where later activity shire, the latter extending through Greater Manches- has been less extensive. The same applies to smelt- ter into north-east Cheshire. Small-scale outcrops ing; there is evidence for Medieval lead smelting at also occur, both in small outliers and as sporadic several sites in Cumbria, and at in seams in earlier Carboniferous deposits. On the Cheshire. There was probably lead smelting at coalfield, St Bees Abbey obtained rights Smelfthwaites, near the lead mines at Ashnott (L) to extract coal in the Whitehaven area in the 13th cen- where there are the remains of a stone-lined drain for tury. mine drainage (M C Higham 1989a). Medieval lead By the 15th century, mining is also documented at extraction appears to have been short lived in Bow- Great Broughton, Dean, and near Loweswater, and land (L), and did not recommence until the 16th cen- at Tindale near Brampton in east Cumbria (Hatcher tury. 1993, 111-113). The main copper orefield of the region is the Lake In Lancashire the first documented major colliery District, notably the Keswick, Caldbeck, and Conis- was at Haigh in the early 16th century (Hatcher 1993, ton areas. There is also an important source at Alder- 117-120), and other references to coal mining appear

Fig 5.18 Bow Bridge, Furness Abbey, Cumbria (Andrew Davison).

134 Archaeology North West Vol 8 (issue 18 for 2006) Chapter 5: Medieval Period Resource Assessment to have been small-scale. The only known archaeo- logical investigation within the region is at Gadbury Fold near Wigan, where recent excavations showed extensive 13th to 14th century mining (Redhead 2003- 4). Nationally, a very high potential has been shown for coal mining features, artefacts, and mining tech- nology (Hartley 1994), and the study of small-scale coal workings is as important as large-scale mining.

Quarrying

Whilst stone was used throughout the region for prestige buildings, its use for lesser domestic build- ings varied. The archaeology of Medieval quarrying has, however, received little attention nationally, and virtually none regionally. The MPP Step 3 assess- ments list only one site in the region, at Stainton in Cumbria (LUAU 1999b, Appendix 3). This may have provided the limestone for certain architectural de- tails at Furness Abbey (Fig 5.18). The remainder of the Abbey is of St Bees Sandstone extracted from a number of quarry sites adjacent to a site surveyed by the RCHME (Wood 1999). The limited literature is biased towards high-quality freestone quarries, rather than towards the sources for more vernacular struc- tures, or the technology of quarrying. Clifton-Taylor implies late-Medieval roofing stone extraction from (Ch), and freestone from Wetheral (C), St Bees Head (C) and Penrith (1972, 415-430). The Fig 5.19 Excavation of a timber ‘salt ship’ at Second Wood quarrying of freestone, rubblestone, roofing stone, Street, Nantwich, Cheshire (Sue Stallibrass). slate, and millstones differ in technology, and ar- chaeological evidence for all is likely to occur within built as standardised units (McNeil 1983, 61). Recent the region. excavations have revealed other well-preserved tim- ber buildings associated with salt making (Cheshire Salt Production County Council 2004; Fig 5.19). Salt production in Cheshire followed a technology The earliest documentary evidence for saltworking in that was in the main already well established, using the North West is provided by the Domesday survey timber-lined brine pits, positioned in valley-floor lo- for Cheshire, when the centres of salt production cations in simple open-ended, -like structures, were firmly established in the three ‘wich’ towns of known as ‘wich houses’. Little work has been under- Middlewich, Nantwich and . At these taken on coastal salt production in the North West. inland works, brine was usually drawn from natural This is likely to have been carried out in the vicinity brine springs, where brine pits were developed, and of the flat estuarine intertidal areas of the Dee, Rib- later, shafts or wells were dug by hand to the wet ble, Morecambe Bay and the Solway, where some rock head. Brine was raised and stored in brine cis- Medieval salterns are already known. There are refer- terns or brine tanks where any solid material was al- ences to salt-making around the Solway and More- lowed to settle before the brine was allowed to flow cambe Bay, and in west Cumberland, largely associ- through brine pipes by gravity into the evaporating ated with monastic houses, notably Holme Cultram pans. Small lead pans were used throughout the Me- Abbey, where peat was used as fuel (Martin 1975). dieval period, but began to be replaced by larger pans Production was likely to have been through the proc- of riveted iron sheets later in the period. Excavations ess known as sleeching or sand-washing, where salt- in Nantwich in 1979-80 revealed timber-framed impregnated sands and silts were filtered through a workshops containing cisterns for storing brine, and bed of turf or peat, and the resulting brine was boiled two adjoining late 12th century salthouses. The in small pans. The waste sand from the process often salthouses were of differing construction: one was remains in large distinctive mounds. On rocky coasts, built with stake and wattle walls, the other built seawater may have been directly boiled, without around massive squared earth-fast posts, although concentration, using large cast-iron pans fuelled with they were of similar size and appear to have been coal (Wilkinson et al 1998). The direct boiling process

Archaeology North West Vol 8 (issue 18 for 2006) 135 The Archaeology of North West England developed from sleeching in the later Medieval pe- This lack of evidence is largely because many mills riod, and it has been suggested that salt was possibly continued in use and were redeveloped in the post- produced by direct boiling in the 13th century at Medieval period. Some fulling mills were abandoned, Saltom on the West Cumberland coalfield (Walsh however, such as at (L), where initial sur- 1991, 39). The most recent publicly-available over- vey has identified a surviving leat and potash pits (M view is contained in the MPP Step 1 Report (Barford C Higham 1998). Surveys in Cumbria have identified et al 1998), revised and supplemented by the Step 1 the remains of potash kilns, fulling mill sites and ten- Consultation Report and the Step 2 Shortlist of Sites ter banks (Davies-Shiel 1972; 1974), whilst other (Cranstone 1999a; 1999b). work in both Lancashire and Cumbria has identified physical evidence for flax and hemp retting (M C Manufacturing Higham 1989b). The physical evidence for Medieval textile produc- Archaeological evidence for manufacturing in the tion is very scant. Spindle whorls have been found at North West is sparse, even in the urban centres. The a variety of sites and the remains of a glass linen evidence from Chester consists mainly of waste smoother/calendar were found in Chester. There is products and tools unrelated to any in situ structural documentary evidence for manorially controlled remains, although timber-lined pits associated with fulling mills across the North West, but none has tanning have been recorded east of the city walls at been excavated. Many later evolved into cotton tex- Love Street (Newstead 1934) and at the Bars tile mills, particularly in Lancashire. Recent investiga- (UMAU 1998). A small number of hide off-cuts and tions at Alderley Edge produced iron slag, including cobblers’ waste were found in the city ditch in 1991, tap slag and hammer scale, from a buried soil found suggesting both shoe-making and mending. Excava- during excavation of a trench across the township tions at Witter Place produced evidence for copper boundary, and the recent excavation of the alloy metalworking in the form of clay moulds for salthouses at Wood Street, Nantwich also produced cauldrons and other vessels. Several fragments from evidence suggesting metal and leather-working. a single cauldron mould were found at Crook Street in 1963, another fragment was also found at Hunter Pottery Production Street, and part of a stone composite mould for an- nular brooches was found at the Northgate Brewery The evidence for pottery and tile production (Fig site (Davey 1973). Outside of Chester, information 5.20) in the North West is extremely poor. In Ches- on the manufacture of metal products is restricted to ter, two tile kilns were excavated at the Deanery field evidence of bell-casting at Norton Priory. Fragments and a dump of Medieval roof tiles, including many of molten glass have been found in Handbridge and wasters or ‘seconds’ was found at George Street are considered to be evidence of working on or close (Rutter 1977). A short distance away to the east of to the site, although the date is unclear. Glass work- the city walls a dump of waste pottery and building ing, possibly for glazing, is indicated in Delamere material was found in Street (Rutter 1990). Forest by a dump of crucibles and broken glass, probably for use as cullet (recycled material). Molten Fig 5.20 A Medieval floor tile with a design of three hares or waste was also found but no furnace has definitely rabbits from Chester Cathedral (Chester Archaeology). been identified. Field name evidence suggests glass working or making at Mobberley and Rushton but no archaeological evidence has been located. A large pair of wooden and leather bellows recovered from a 14th century context within Carlisle city ditch were probably industrial in function (OA North 2002e). Elsewhere in the North West, very little archaeo- logical work has been carried out on manufacturing sites. There is plentiful documentary evidence for the presence of corn and fulling mills, for example, but none have been excavated and very few have even had limited survey. At Harraby, Carlisle, however, Medieval deposits were discovered at a 19th century corn mill where a Medieval one was known (NPH 2003c). There is some excavated evidence of corn- drying, for example at Audlem (Ch) (Cheshire County Council 2001), in Chester (Ward 1998), and Mitchell’s Brewery, Lancaster (Huckerby forthcom- ing).

136 Archaeology North West Vol 8 (issue 18 for 2006) Chapter 5: Medieval Period Resource Assessment

1970s just outside the city walls (Rutter 1990). In Cumbria waste pottery has been found at Waber- thwaite (Cherry & Cherry 1984b) and also from sev- eral sites in Carlisle, most recently from Botchergate (I Miller pers comm). Pottery and kiln debris have been found in Lancashire, in 1992 at Ellel, to the south of Lancaster (White 1993), and recently at Caton which is also known from documentary evi- dence (OA North 2003d). Pottery industries are well known at Docker Moor and Silverdale on the Lanca- shire/Cumbria border where production at the for- mer began in the late 12th to early 13th century, and in the late Medieval period at the latter (Edwards 1967; Miller & White forthcoming). Evidence has been gained from documents, earthwork evidence, finds of wasters and a resistivity survey (White 2000a). Parallels between waste pottery and some exca- vated material (Fig 5.21) can be identified in the rele- vant areas but further evidence is required to identify Fig 5.21 13th or early 14th century jug, found in pieces but distribution zones. Well-stratified occupation depos- virtually complete, recovered from a cess pit on the Chester its and independent dating means are required to Amphitheatre excavation (Chester Archaeology). identify the time spans during which these sites were in production. Little is known about technological Seven or eight other production sites have been iden- advances or changes in ceramic production in the tified by finds of waste pottery, but only four Medie- North West. Whilst some changes can be detected in val kilns have been excavated, all in Cheshire, and the methods of manufacture there is not enough evi- region was also served by kilns beyond its present dence to associate these with any chronological or borders. A floor tile kiln was also discovered and geographical framework. excavated at Norton Priory. Part of the North West region was also included in a study of Medieval floor Trade, Exchange and Interaction tiles in northern England (Stopford 2005), examining changes in the design, production and use of floor Ports and Maritime Archaeology tiles between the early 13th century and the Dissolu- tion of the monasteries. Chester was the premier port in the North West dur- Two of the Cheshire kilns were excavated in 1933 ing the Medieval period (Carrington 1996). A wide and 1948, (Newstead & Droop 1934, Webster & range of objects entered the city both by the port and Dunning 1960), and a third was found during excava- over land, although the archaeological evidence for tion of a Roman villa at Eaton-by-Tarporley in 1982. these external contacts is relatively rare. Many of the At Brereton Park (Ch) one kiln was partially exca- goods were either perishable or raw materials which vated (Rutter 1983), and three others are thought to were converted to or used to produce other objects lie close by, and a group of wasted pottery was found and materials. The principal archaeological evidence during recent excavations on a pipeline. A kiln, exca- for trade thus consists of ceramics, stone and glass. vated within the Medieval city walls of Chester in There is considerable potential, however, in the re- 1936 (Newstead & Droop 1936), is probably a tile claimed ground outside the Watergate and along the kiln, but the evidence is unclear and very little waster western defences. Important evidence for ships and material was found. The possible remains of a fifth shipbuilding may also be buried in the river silts and kiln were found in 2002 along with large quantities of river bed but the potential has only very recently be- pottery, including numerous wasters, during pipeline gun to be assessed (Gifford & Partners 2002b). construction at Samlesbury near Preston. No actual There are three recorded shipwrecks in the River structure was found but a burnt area may represent Dee, all lost in 1536, and carrying cargoes of wine the position of a kiln. The pottery has highlighted and wood. The evidence for the ships is documen- potential differences in Medieval pottery traditions tary, and their exact locations have not been identi- north and south of the . The only other fied (NMR unique identifiers 1324874; 1324880; evidence for pottery production is in the form of 1324885). Only one other shipwreck is recorded for finds of waste material and documentary evidence. the North West, a 15th to 16th century sailing vessel Excavations in Prescot (Holgate 1989) produced 74 off Barrow-in-Furness, identified in 1839 when tim- fragments of wasters, and a dump of waste pottery bers and cannons were found (NMR unique identi- and building material was found in Chester in the late fier 908215). Other ports and creeks operated along

Archaeology North West Vol 8 (issue 18 for 2006) 137 The Archaeology of North West England the length of the North West coastline in the Medie- 1996, 123, 137). In Merseyside, there is pottery from val period, though little, if any, archaeological work West Derby Castle and Prescot (Holgate 1989), in- has been carried out. cluding wasters, and small quantities of pottery have been found through field walking and excavation. Pottery More recent excavations have begun to produce pot- tery, however, such as the largest group yet excavated Knowledge of Medieval pottery up to the mid-13th in Lancaster from Mitchell’s Brewery in the 1990s, century is limited in the North West. A sequence of and from Fishergate, Preston in 1989 (White 1996, fabrics and forms has been suggested by associated 132, 135). An unusually large spread of Medieval pot- dendrochronology for the 12th and early 13th centu- tery on the outskirts of Inskip in North Lancashire ries in Carlisle, and similar wares have been recog- was a rare discovery in a rural settlement, made dur- nised from excavations at Dacre (C), Penrith and ing the North West Wetlands Survey (Middleton et al elsewhere, enabling a distribution pattern to be sug- 1995, 116). The sherds were small and abraded but gested for the principal wares of the period. In Nant- some diagnostic features survive to suggest that they wich two wich houses produced good groups of late were made at Ellel (L). 12th century pottery, but production sources are yet Excavations in 1994 and 1995 produced the first to be discovered, and there is a mid- to late-12th cen- sizeable stratified assemblages from the Merseyside tury assemblage from Norton Priory. Elsewhere in area. The first, at Fazakerley (Wright 1996), the site the region, published evidence is not available. There of a toft close to known 14th-century settlement, is is a relative abundance of pottery in the North West one of the few rural sites to have been excavated. from the mid-13th to the 14th centuries, but as with Unfortunately, features which could be dated by ra- the earlier pottery, there is a bias towards pottery diocarbon analysis could not be related in any mean- from Cheshire and Cumbria. The pottery sequence ingful way to the pottery assemblages. The second, a for Carlisle is published and further work is in pro- site at Eccleston Hall, near St Helens, where the ear- gress (McCarthy & Brooks 1992). There are other liest documented reference is c 1374 (Philpott & Ir- Medieval sequences at the Medieval towns of Cock- vine 1991, 10), produced small but key groups for the ermouth (C) and Kendal, whilst excavations at Dacre late Medieval/transitional period, which it may be recovered over 2000 sherds forming a sequence from possible to put into a chronological sequence. Paral- the 13th or 14th century. Only small quantities have lels can be found amongst these assemblages with been recovered elsewhere in Cumbria, for example late Medieval pottery found in other small but key Penrith and Cartmel Priory (Newman et al 2000; Wild groups in Merseyside from the Old Hutt (Wrathmell & Howard-Davis 2000). Chester also has good se- 1992) and Speke Hall (Higgins 1992). Despite the quences of pottery for this period, and has utilised lack of absolute dating, some of the pottery from dated assemblages from in to Fazakerley and Eccleston, along with the material date some local wares. Little is understood about the from sites at Tarbock, Roby and Newton-le-Willows, extent of use in comparison with other materials, nor does share some characteristics of form and fabric about the change from using wares made from with the Prescot material and with each other that Cheshire boulder clays to those made from Coal would seem to indicate a common and therefore per- Measure clays. This seems to have occurred some- haps local production. The date of this production is time in the 14th century. Outside of Chester district, unclear, the later 14th or 15th century has been sug- there is a poorly stratified assemblage from Beeston gested as the most likely (Davey 1991, 127) but the Castle, and unpublished assemblages from Middle- possibilities for an earlier date have been discussed wich and Nantwich. Pottery from towns in the east recently (Speakman 2000). Although these ‘local’ of the county, such as Macclesfield and , is wares cannot be securely dated or provenanced it is poorly understood, and there is little material from clear that they are quite different in character to the the few excavations of rural settlements, although a bulk of pottery found in Chester and have more af- moated site near Audlem produced a relatively large finity with the northern gritty ware traditions (Davey Medieval assemblage. Excavations at the religious 1991, 124-7). sites of Norton Priory and Warrington Friary, how- A similar situation exists in Greater Manchester ever, have produced substantial assemblages, as yet where there is also no sequence of fabrics or forms awaiting full publication. for the city or the area as a whole although a number Pottery of mid-13th to 14th century date from Lan- of sites have produced pottery since 1975, when Bury cashire and Merseyside is less well-represented, and Castle was the only representative. Most of the as- many of the assemblages have been small and poorly semblages that have been published are small and stratified, a situation commented on in 1975 (Hurst fragmentary. Recently, during excavations in Man- 1977, 123). In Lancashire few towns have been the chester city centre, a small group of probable later subject of archaeological excavation and no signifi- Medieval pottery was found associated with a large cant groups of pottery have been published (White quantity of leather artefacts in the Hanging Ditch, a

138 Archaeology North West Vol 8 (issue 18 for 2006) Chapter 5: Medieval Period Resource Assessment

Fig 5.22 A selection of Medieval buckles collected from Meols, Merseyside (National Museums Liverpool).

Medieval watercourse backfilled by the mid-16th cen- Whilst the sources of much of the region’s pottery tury. Excavations at Wigan in 1984 produced the first are poorly understood it is difficult to draw detailed archaeological evidence for the Medieval town: a tim- conclusions regarding exchange and interaction ber-lined well which contained a group of possible based on pottery distribution. Broad patterns of dis- late 13th- to early 14th-century pottery (Jones & Price tribution can be identified, some of which appear to 1985). Further work took place in 1990 at Hallgate, follow natural boundaries such as the Mersey. Some Wigan, when the excavation of Medieval burgage of these extend beyond the boundaries of the region, plots also produced a good group of Medieval pot- for example Chester with North Wales and possibly tery some of which have been suggested to be wast- the West Midlands, Cumbria with the North East ers (Clark 1991). Long running excavations by the and Scotland and possible links between Greater South Trafford Archaeology Group at Timperley Manchester and the east of England. Whilst the evi- Old Hall, a moated site near , have pro- dence for pottery distribution across the region is duced groups of 13th to 16th century pottery which patchy the existing evidence suggests a lack of inter- are currently being studied (Faulkner 1994, 16). A change of locally produced wares across the region as small 15th to 16th century assemblage has also re- a whole. The region can be divided into several zones cently been found at another moated site at Denton within which certain types of pottery appear to circu- to the south of Manchester. As with the Merseyside late. Cheshire is dominated by red-firing wares during material the pottery reported on from Greater Man- the 13th and 14th centuries but sometime in the 14th chester is of a type comparable with the gritty ware century pink/white-firing wares become common. traditions to the north-east of the area. This is par- These wares are occasionally found north of the ticularly clear in the Hallgate, Wigan, group where Mersey but only in small numbers as a different tradi- parallels have been made with some of the Prescot tion seems to have developed there. In the Mersey- pottery (Clark 1991, 12). As on Merseyside, however, side area and extending over to Greater Manchester, the small quantities of material, poor stratification hard, quite coarse sandy wares appear to be domi- and an absence of any long occupation sequences nant. In Lancashire there are still too few assem- containing pottery mean that it is currently difficult blages to be able to form any preliminary thoughts to develop a ceramic sequence. on distribution but the types of wares found at Ellel

Archaeology North West Vol 8 (issue 18 for 2006) 139 The Archaeology of North West England

group of late Norman copper alloy brooches also appear to include wasters from cold hammering. Overall, the fashions are those familiar from large urban excavations across the country. The assem- blage includes cheap political badges from the or a little later, and a wide range of pil- grim souvenir badges (Fig 5.23), not only ones from English shrines, but also from Germany, southern France and Rome. Domestic equipment, though sparser, is also typical of that found in towns, such as knives, pewter spoons and metal kitchen wares. In Fig 5.23 Medieval pilgrims ampulla, from Henhull, Cheshire contrast, there are a few buckles that have been very (PAS). clumsily repaired and some keys made of copper al- loy sheeting are the kinds of substitutes that might be are similar to the coarse sandy wares found on Mer- devised by a community which had temporarily lost seyside. In Cumbria four possible regions of ceramic direct access to a mainstream market and to some tradition have been suggested to exist for the 12th routine metalworking techniques. Fish hooks indicate and 13th centuries (McCarthy & Brooks 1992, 34). the likely economic basis of the settlement. Occa- One includes Carlisle, Penrith and Dacre and follows sional high-class items, like a door or chest ring and the Eden Valley; two others are indicated by different part of a Romanesque candlestick of a form found in groups of material at Kendal and Cockermouth; a major churches on the Continent, add to the unusual fourth area in southern Cumbria has no excavated profile of the finds from Meols. Altogether, the as- assemblages but might be ceramically related to semblage indicates that the site was far more than a northern Lancashire. The trends for the later periods fishing village in the Medieval period. It appears to in Cumbria are not clear although more homogeneity have acted as a major entry point for goods coming is suggested (McCarthy & Brooks 1992, 36) and also into the North West, and developed as a manufactur- a continuation of influences from north-eastern Eng- ing centre of metal goods to cater for that trade. land and Scotland rather than from the south of the Given the general paucity of artefacts from most ex- region (Miller forthcoming). The extent and use of cavated sites across the North West, Meols stands in imported pottery is unclear. A variety of wares have stark contrast. been found in Chester; including Dublin coarse- wares, developed Stamford wares, Scarborough, Defence, Warfare and Military Activity Saintonge, Ham Green and Tudor Green types. Sain- tonge wares, Surrey wares (Cheam) and Humber Archaeological work on the castles of the north has wares have also been identified north of the Mersey. been sporadic. There are numerous guidebooks and Further work is required to examine the long dis- gazetteers to the castles, and notable surveys tance trading patterns, their variation and the reasons (Curwen 1913; RCHME 1936; Hugill 1970 and 1977; for this across the region. King 1983; Stretton 1994; Perriam & Robinson 1998) although within these works the archaeological evi- Meols dence has been recorded and interpreted to varying degrees. Meols is a remarkable site at the northern tip of the The earliest castles in the region were of earth and which produced an extremely large timber construction generally of motte and bailey and varied assemblage of everyday Medieval items, form. In the Greater Manchester area, many were mainly metalwork, as erosion by the sea advanced short-lived, such as Watch Hill, one of three castles during the 19th century (Fig 5.22). The evidence sug- guarding the eastern side of the Bollin valley gests that Medieval activity was a continuation of an (Redhead 1997, 34-5), and others have been ob- earlier, pre-Conquest settlement. The antiquarian scured by later development. The motte at Dunham collections from the site, now in several different Massey is now truncated as a garden feature and that museums, together comprise a collection second in at Ullerswood is topped by a house and obscured by range and scope only to that from London for the trees. At Castleton, Rochdale, the truncated motte later Medieval period. The finds continue to the late sits beneath an early 19th century house, and the bai- 15th to early 16th century, when the settlement pre- ley has been built over (Fishwick 1889, Battersby sumably declined irreversibly. There are thousands of 2001). Cumbria’s mottes for the most part are likely dress accessories, buckles, brooches, mounts etc, to be later than those further south in the region as including some casting wasters of lead/tin from the the full impact of Norman settlement was not felt 15th to early 16th centuries and series of copper-alloy until later in the 12th century. The influence of a fluc- mounts which may never have been used. A small tuating frontier with Scotland appears likely to have

140 Archaeology North West Vol 8 (issue 18 for 2006) Chapter 5: Medieval Period Resource Assessment at least in part dictated the distribution of these earth bly because they are often obscured by later develop- and timber castles in the north of the region. There ments. The stone castle at Kendal is considered to are comparatively few in Lancashire, but a distinct have originated as a 12th century for exam- group concentrated in the Lune valley possibly re- ple, and the motte at Aldingham (C) originated as a lated to a late 11th century border with Scotland (M C ringwork (Davison 1969). The three known in Higham 1991, 85; Wood 1996). These include the Greater Manchester are (Nevell 1991, well preserved and largely unexplored sites at Halton 115-7), Manchester and Stockport. Manchester was and Hornby (Castlestede) near Lancaster, and the replaced by a in the 13th century early 12th-century castle which preceded the later ma- (Morris 1983, 36-7), and the site is now occupied by sonry castle at Lancaster itself. A further less clearly Chethams College, and Stockport castle walls were defined line of mottes along the Ribble valley may levelled in the late 18th century for the construction also relate to a frontier, perhaps that temporarily of a cotton mill (Arrowsmith 1997, 31-4). In south- formed during of Stephen’s reign when west Lancashire and Merseyside, West Derby Castle, Scottish power extended southwards. In Cumbria, Mote Hill in Warrington, and possibly Burnardescas- the concentration of mottes is close to the Scottish tle in Lathom may also have originated as border, though whether they truly represent national (Lewis 2000, 89-91). defensive lines, or reflect the militaristic feudal nature In Cheshire any relationship between the Anglo- and status of the 12th century landholdings (Lott Welsh border and early castles is more difficult to 1995) is arguable. In some cases similar castles ap- establish. Although motte and bailey castles are more pear to oppose each other across the border as at numerous in the Welsh Marches (Renn 1973), there Liddel Castle and Liddel Strength (MacIvor 2001, are only 13 definite mottes in Cheshire and one in 25). Many of these early castles fulfilled functions Merseyside. In western Cheshire, along the border both as baronial strongholds and estate administra- with Wales there are motte and bailey castles located tive centres, and as strategic military installations at Dodleston, , Pulford and Malpas, plus Cas- (Wood 1996, 145). Overall modern archaeological tletown at Church Shocklach, which forms part of investigation to substantiate speculation about dating, more complex earthworks. Chester and fluctuating frontiers and the functions of these earth- (Fig 5.24) to the north can also be considered as part work sites is generally lacking. of the group although they continued in existence as Few ringworks are known from the region, possi- royal castles and so are much modified. Traditionally

Fig 5.24 The earthworks of , Cheshire (Cheshire County Council).

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Fig 5.25 Kendal Castle, Cumbria (Andrew Davison). these castles have been considered to belong to the evaluations and watching briefs have demonstrated a immediate post-conquest period, the result of the good, below ground survival of the archaeological imposition of Norman control in an unsettled, fron- resource in those areas unaffected by post-Medieval tier area. Earthwork surveys, resistivity surveys, and destruction (Ellis et al 1996; Ward 1993). The up- small-scale research excavation at Aldford, make it standing masonry structures are also a valuable re- the most intensively investigated of the group search resource but are in danger from lack of repair. (Cocroft 1996; Lowerre et al 2003). The excavations The site has considerable research potential in the at Aldford, however, produced no evidence for occu- areas of military architecture with the development pation significantly earlier than the early-13th century. from earthwork to masonry structures and for high- This raises the interesting possibility that these castles status finds particularly the in-filled ditches which may not have been built in the immediate post- have good potential for survival of organic remains. conquest period, but instead, in the late-12th century, Large-scale, modern archaeological investigations during a period when the Welsh princes were ascen- of earth and timber castles have concentrated on dant. Other castles such as Castle Cob are seen as those that developed into important later castles as at protecting and controlling the agricultural resources Halton and Nantwich in Cheshire. There have been a of the Cheshire Plain. few modern archaeological explorations, including had a major administrative and sym- Davison’s excavations at Aldingham, and a number bolic function, though it was not particularly impor- of excavations in the Manchester area, including at tant or innovative from a military architectural point Watch Hill in 1976 (Brown & Johnson 1985, 35-8), of view (Donald Insall Associates Ltd 2001). The and at Chethams Yard, exposing a possible inner original castle was a motte and bailey. During the 12th defensive ditch for the Manchester ringwork (Tindall and early 13th centuries, it was rebuilt in stone as a 1983, 5-8). Although a number were at least partially curtain wall castle and a large new outer bailey was excavated in the 19th century, for example Pen- added. The motte was retained but lost its military wortham, near Preston, and Mote Hill, Warrington, predominance. Improvements continued under the these have not been especially informative (Renn Crown through the 14th century. Substantial accom- 1973) and often the detailed information from the modation for the constables and the Royal family investigations has been lost as at Hornby in the Lune were also constructed. Substantial rebuilding in the valley. Little archaeological work of any type has 18th to the 20th centuries probably destroyed the been undertaken on Cumbria’s northern earth and greater part of the Medieval domestic ranges. How- timber castles. Of the larger castles in the north of ever, the outer bailey wall and gates appear to survive the region, there have been few formal or extensive beneath the present parade ground. Excavations, historic fabric surveys or excavations with the excep-

142 Archaeology North West Vol 8 (issue 18 for 2006) Chapter 5: Medieval Period Resource Assessment tion of Carlisle (McCarthy et al 1990; Lloyd Evans domestic accommodation was confined to a single Prichard 2001), where opportunities for excavations tower are a much smaller group and mostly fall right have been limited, Brougham (Williams 1992; Sum- at the end of or just beyond the Medieval period. merson, Trueman & Harrison 1998), Brough (Jones Courtyard manors provided another substantial 1989) and Piel (R M Newman 1987; 1996b). There group again often falling late in the period. The Cum- have been a number of small-scale investigations at brian buildings have been surveyed by the RCHME Kendal Castle (Fig 5.25), which has helped to con- but there has been little excavation. Both Radcliffe firm the rather sporadic historical record. The origins Tower (GM) and Bury Castle (GM) have been the of the castle remain uncertain, and the lack of exca- subject of excavations. These revealed that Radcliffe vation of Kendal’s other castle on the other side of had a fine timber-framed hall, linked to an L-shaped the town, at Castle Howe, means that the relation- timber-framed wing, all enclosed by a stone wall ship between the two remains unknown. There is fronted with a broad ditch (Arrowsmith 1995), whilst some slight evidence, however, that Kendal Castle Bury appears to have been a massive tower house may have had a timber phase pre-dating the visible with walls 2.3m thick. It was protected by a broad stone remains (LUAU 1995a; Howard-Davis forth- moat, revetted by a sandstone wall strengthened with coming). There has been recent geophysical survey buttresses. Excavations of the moat silts revealed within the enceinte, suggesting a range of buildings many domestic and military artefacts, and also archi- that may have echoed the hall block. Work at Pen- tectural fragments such as window and cor- dragon (C) has focused on the recording of upstand- bels (Arrowsmith 1999). There appears to be a corre- ing elevations and partial clearance of collapsed ma- lation between the distribution of these defensible sonry (LUAU 1996a). Limited recording and excava- buildings and moated sites, with the former largely in tion has also taken place at Egremont (Turnbull the uplands, and the latter largely in the lowlands. 1994; LUAU 1998d) and a report on the state of Both forms were used mainly for the display of Gleaston appears in a feasibility study (LUAU status, rather than for true defence, and the distribu- 1998c). Archaeological investigation at Lancaster tion reflects changes in geology and topography and Castle has been limited by its current use as a prison, thus the availability of building materials. but a watching brief within the early 15th century suggested that there has been considerable Legacy disturbance of Medieval phases (LUAU 1995b). There has also been a fabric survey of the Witches’, Many aspects of the archaeology in the Medieval pe- or Well, Tower, and detailed investigation of its up- riod in the North West are little understood. Pub- per floor, which demonstrated that much of the lished work is concentrated in Chester, perhaps as a original 13th century masonry and structural timbers consequence of its status as an Area of Archaeologi- survived intact along with evidence for refurbish- cal Importance. In a region which was dominated by ment in the early 15th century (LUAU 1997c). The large areas of unpopulated or scarcely populated up- site of the late Medieval castle at Lathom (L) rebuilt lands and wetlands, the lack of archaeological evi- on a palatial scale in the 15th century has been con- dence for many aspects of the Medieval period is, firmed by evaluation. Timbers re-used in the Palla- perhaps, not surprising. The success and continuity dian mansion produced felling dates of 1475 and the of many Medieval urban and rural settlements and site is the subject of a continuing research pro- buildings is a factor in limiting understanding of their gramme (Lewis 1999; Nayling 2000). archaeology. For example, the three substantial Me- (Ch) was the subject of extensive excavations be- dieval castle complexes at the heart of Carlisle, Ches- tween 1968 and 1985 (Ellis 1993). ter and Lancaster have remained in use for a variety Below the level of castles proper is a category of of purposes as courts, barracks, prison, administra- defensible buildings, of various types. Their distribu- tive and civic centres. Rapid post-Medieval urban and tion is concentrated in the north of the region, and in industrial growth in small Medieval market centres a survey of defensible buildings in Cumbria, a little has in many places severely truncated earlier archaeo- over 100 such buildings were recognised (Ryder logical levels. Large Medieval rural parishes grew 2002). There are examples further south, such as rather than shrank in population so that redundant Bury Castle,. Radcliffe Tower and perhaps Ashton Medieval churches and chapels are not a feature of Hall, in Great Manchester, which appear rather to the North West landscape. Similarly the relative lack have been fortified manor houses. The most com- of visible deserted settlement of all types limits the mon was the tower solar, often termed ‘pele tower’ opportunity to identify and examine well preserved but which can now be shown to have been part of a rural sites. larger residential structure, predominantly of the later In contrast, work undertaken at the salt working 14th and 15th centuries. A separate group of houses sites in Cheshire, the artefacts from Meols, and the with thick-walled cross wings rather than towers excavations of Medieval Carlisle demonstrate that the proper was also recognised. Tower houses in which North West also contains areas of well-preserved

Archaeology North West Vol 8 (issue 18 for 2006) 143 The Archaeology of North West England deposits and rich assemblages of organic and other would flourish. artefacts. The region’s extensive coastline and long- The study of Medieval settlement is complex and established trading links made it well placed to ex- varies not only regionally but from one township to ploit the growing Atlantic trade of the early post- another in response to an interaction of geographical Medieval period. The North West’s ports and trade and social circumstances. Studies have not begun to were the catalysts that would transform its mining, address the considerable disparity between the domi- metal, and chemical industries. Trade played a key nant regional view presented by research into the part too in the development of the textile industry central province, as represented by recent work in from the wool and linen production that prospered the Midlands (Lewis et al 2001), and the very differ- in the extensive farming regimes of the uplands and ent settlement agenda beginning to be recognised in wetlands, to sustain the skills base and trading econ- regions such as the North West. omy in which the later cotton manufacturing industry

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