The Mesolithic Occupation of Mill Dam Meadow, Gleaston, Cumbria
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THE MESOLITHIC OCCUPATION OF MILL of his work is unpublished.t Bart's Shelter Cave DAM MEADOW. GLEASTON. CUMBRIA. at Scales is currently under excavarion but it may be some years before the results of the work CRSalisbury&JCoupe are published. In 1993 and 1994, the authors investigated the There is an abundance of evidence, mainly from possible location of a l2th century water mill in recent field walking exercises, that the Furness Mill Dam Meadow, near Gleaston on the Peninsular would have been an attractive area Furness Peninsula in Cumbria. Whilst they were for Mesolithic hunter/gatherer groups and that unable to positively identify the location of the the region was probably exploited to a far water mill, they were able to recover sufficient greater extent than has previously been thought. evidence of a l2th century economic This is perhaps corroborated by the presence of exploitation for them to be able to assume that a very large hunting encampment on the Mill Dam Meadow had been occupied during southern shore of Morecambe Bay at Heysham the early medieval period. The artefacts Head discovered in 1992.' At first sight the recovered included medieval poffery, structural Heysham Head site and Mill Dam Meadow may timber, nails and the remains of several domestic appear to be geographically isolated, but this is animals.t not the case. The Heysharn site can been seen across Morecambe Bay to the south from the A puzzling feature of the artefact assernblages high ground adjacent to Mill Dam Meadow. was the presence of a ntrmber of flint and chert tools and fragments from contexts containing A large number of Mesolithic sites have been medieval pottery and faunal remains. It was excavated in northern Britain in recent years assumed that the medieval builders of a water from the Pennine sites to Star Carr in east channel crossing the site had disturbed earlisr Yorkshire and a number of sites in Scotland. occupation layers during the construction of the Generally, flint and chert microliths dominate channel. As a result of the recovery of the flint the tool assemblages unless the soil conditions and chert artefacts, field walking exercises were are sufficiently anaerobic for tools made from undertaken on the ploughed high ground around wood, bone and antler to have survived. the perimeter of Mill Dam Meadow in late 1994. Because of the dry condition of the soils at A large number of flint and chert tools and Heysham Head tools made from materials other fragments wsre recovered during the field than stone had not survived. Whilst the walking and in early 1995 a trial trsnch was stratigraphy at Mill Darn Meadow is different in excavated in Mill Dam Meadow. The results of many respects to the Heysham Head the trial excavation point to a fairly extensive stratigraphy, the excavators were yet again faced Mesolithic exploitation of the high ground with soils possessed of poor preservation surrounding Mill Darn Meadow as do the results qualities and no organic remains were recovgred of further field walking exercises undertaken during the excavations. However, tools made during the excavation work. There is a distinct from imported flint and indigenous chert were possibility that Mill Dam Meadow may have recovered together with flint and chert been a small lake or tarn during the Mesolithic fragments. Period. Because of the large areas of land yet to be investigated, this report is submitted as an MILL DAM MEADOW interim report pending further excavations and Mill Dam Meadow lies to the north of Gleaston field walking. on the Furness Peninsular (Fig:l) some 5Km north east of the town of Barrow-in-Furness and THE MESOLITHIC BACKGROUND 2Km inland from the northern shore of Very little investigation of a Mesolithic Morecambe Bay. The Mesolithic site at occupation of the Furness Peninsular has ever Heysham Head is some 17Km to the south east been undertaken. The late Dr G Jackson across Morecambe Bay. Mill Dam Meadow is a investigated much of Walney Island and some of flat valley, part bog and wetland and some 450m the coastal areas for a number of years but much long by 200m wide. It is surrounded by rising 4 ground except to the south where water courses prove that a lake did exist in Mill Dam Meadows have cut through terminal moraines to form a during the Mesolithic Period; that can only be steep sided narrow valley. Gleaston Castle proved by rather long and costly sediment currently (NGR - SD 261 715) lies at the northern end of analysis. That sediment analysis is the valley and Gleaston Water Mill (NGR - SD being undertaken and will be published with the 260 709) at the southern end. Beacon Hill results of the 1995196 season reports as a final (Summit NGR - SD 26571l) lies adjacent to the site report, For the moment, the authors are geographic and valley to the west. relying on a number of archaeological facts which, when taken together, The lithology is complicated being generally tend to point to a lake margin occupation of Mill limestone with chert outcrops to both east and Dam Meadow. west of the valley. The overburden is derived glacial till with a wide range and variety of MILL DAM MEADOW - THE PHYSICAL erratics. There is no evidence of flint being GEOGRAPHY the valley readily available from local sources othsr than Before the physical characteristics of to be compared with Antrim erratics from the Cumbrian west coast. can be assessed, they have two valleys to the north at Urswick and Mere Urswick a The Furness Peninsular is blessed with a present where present day tarns exist. At tills and day mild climate rather similar to that of some large, deep tarn overlies imperrreable in turn flows of the southern coastal towns. The Isotherm outflows into Gleaston Beck which passing through Bournemouth intercepts the as a surface stream into the northern end of Mill Urswick Furness Peninsular. Mill Dam Meadow, in a Dam Meadow. The out-flow from high volume; in low lying position surrorurded by high ground, is Tarn is neither constant nor in months. The sheltered from the westerly winds and has the fact it often dries up in the surmer Gleaston Beck from benefit of an almost unique micro-climate' This volume of flow along the local phenomenon was noted several times by Urswick Tarn is insufficient to have created have markedly Davisono when he excavated Moat Farm, some erosion processes which could stream 2Km to the west at Aldingham, in 1968, for the eroded any blocking moraine. The Ministry of Public Works. Perhaps a more therefore meanders along the contour. important feature of Mill Dam Meadow is the by fact that it has a pennanent and very prolific At Mere Tarn the standing water is entrapped water supply. Many of the valleys of the very high ground all around the perimeter of the in volume to Furness Peninsular possess small lakes, tarns, tarn and the out-flow is insufficient from the meres or ponds of varying surface area and erode any blocking land. The water fissures in the depth. There are two large tarns to the north of tarn egresses through underground point to the Mill Darn Meadow at Mere Tarn and Urswick limestone at some unknown adjacent end Mill Tarn. The outflows from both these tarns flow tarn and emerges at the northern of joins the flow through Mill Dam Meadow. In addition a very Darn Meadow where it eventually prolific and constantly flowing spring emerges from Urswick Tarn. from the limestone on the eastern slopes of the is rather valley and conjoins with the streams from Mere At Mill Dam Meadow the situation Mere and Urswick Tarns to form a constantly fast- different. Whereas both Urswick and their own flowing river called Deep Meadow Beck. The Tarns dsrive their water supply from reliability of water sgpply from these three catchment areas and small surface streams. Mill the from sources is evidenced by the fact that water- Dam Meadow is supplied by out-flows powered mills have been in use in the valley both Urswick and Mere Tarns, the more constant from the 12th cenrury. and high volume supply from the underground stream to the east of the valley and from a very The excavators are of the opinion, albeit rather large catchment area. cautiously, that a lake was present in Mill Dam and Mere Meadow at some stage in the past. It is not the The geomorphology at both Urswick Dam present intention of the authors to attempt to Tarns is different from that at Mill Meadow. At Urswick and Mere Tarns the THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATIONS - surrounding high ground extends outwardly APRIL 1995 from the tarn perimeters for a considerable Following upon the field walking of the higher linear distance; the tarns are in effect in ground in late 1994, a 5m by 2m trench was set "hollows" surrounded by rolling hills. Whilst out intercepting the suspected lake perimeter and Mill Dam Meadow is surrounded by a similar a full excavation undertaken down to late glacial landscape to the north, west and east, to the deposits. The trench was located on a slight rise south there is a very short steep-sided valley approximately 3m above the suspected lake which would have presented less of a barrier to margin as shown in figure two. Six contexts the outflowing stream and would have been were encountered with the upper five being fully eroded away fairly quickly, but the rate of excavated. Details of each context are listed erosion cannot be estimated with any accuracy. below. However, that erosion of blocking moraines has occurred in the past is evidenced by the erosion patterns on the steep sided valley and deposits in THICKNESS DESCRIPTION the adjacent river valley to the south.