FRIENDS of MELLOR ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRUST
NEWSLETTER JULY 2004

It is the time of the year for the renewal of the Friends subscription for 2004/5. If you would like to become a Friend of Mellor Archaeological Trust, please contact Ann Hearle at the Old Vicarage, Mellor. There is a Friends Evening on Friday the 27th of August, 7pm at the Old Vicarage and there will be a training day for those who would like to take part on the Saturday the 28th. Both these events need to be booked in advance by contacting Ann.

Excavations
The start of the excavation season is nearly here (it is now!). This will be the seventh year of work on the hilltop to try and unravel its history of occupation. Last year was very exciting, with three major areas excavated.

Large open areas in the middle of the garden showed the drip gully of an Iron Age Round House with a diameter of 13 metres. It was almost completely followed, except in the rhododendron bed, which remains out of bounds. A stone hammer tool and many flints were found in these areas.

A large section of the ditch at the Eastern end of the Old Vicarage garden, only discovered in 2002, was dug out. It is cut through the rock, 4 to 5 metres wide and 2 metres deep. It has been left open and, since it is close to the road, a fenced-off public walkway to a viewing platform has been made. It is not often that a day goes past without someone coming in to have a look. Over two hundred pieces of Roman pottery were found, along with two Roman brooches and many nails. The brooches have been conserved over the winter and are a magnificent find. The Roman finds seem to indicate a site of high status! Also found was a quern stone.

The last of the three ditches to be worked on was planned to find where the ditch in the field continued. Trenches were dug either side of the wall between the field and the track way down to Millbrow. The ditch did not curve up the footpath, but went straight across towards the Mellor Hall field. Right at the end of the season it was learnt that this field was going to be ploughed. The idea of asking for permission to dig trenches in 2004 was rapidly abandoned and, whilst the plough was at work on the far side of the field, a series of trenches were excavated by digger to subsoil level. There were indications that the ditch heads off in the direction of Mellor Hall! This has yet to be proved.

There have always been questions about the difference in depth and width of the first excavated ditch by the vegetable patch and the ditch in the field. One is deep and wide, the other is shallower and narrower. With the discovery of the ditch by the gate of a similar size to the one at the other end of the garden, it now seems clear that there were two ditches: a deep ditch round the central area and a smaller ditch round a much larger area. Maybe this year some of the questions raised on the routes of the ditches will be answered.

Other activities
Come to the Friends Evening and the Open Days to hear and read more about the story of the three ditches - as well as to see what is happening this year!

Some of you will have heard John Roberts talk about the excavations at our Dig Update meeting earlier this year. The hall was packed.

The Parish Centre was the venue for the Council of British Archaeology North West Region Annual General Meeting. The history of the Mellor Excavations was one of the talks presented and tours of the site were given. Some of the finds were on display. Another talk described how the Trust funded and organised the excavations.

Cheshire Local History Association divided their At-Home Day between Stockport and Mellor. The afternoon at Mellor saw nearly sixty people being show around the church and the excavations. The day ended with a showing of the video.

Several Societies from around the North West will be making visits to Mellor this year. Volunteers give tours. Flintshire History Society, Merseyside Archaeological Society and Derbyshire Archaeological Society are coming in the next few weeks.

John Roberts, Donald Reid and Ann Hearle give talks to groups throughout the year. Large or small numbers, it all helps to spread the knowledge of the site. All the above activities generate money which helps pay for the experts to report on the finds and conservators to stabilise the fragile objects.

This year the renewal of planning permission for the Round House had to be obtained from Stockport Council at a cost of £110! Permission has been given for another five years. The students of the Ridge Danyers College have been up for a day to tidy the house up. This involved some very messy daubing with clay.

Several of the trustees have attended meetings in Stockport to have an input in the Strategy planning that is being undertaken. They try to ensure that the historical and archaeological aspects of the area are recognised. An agreement has been reached that the Stockport Museums Service will hold the Mellor collection of finds, with the major items on display as part of the Stockport Story in the new museum due to open in 2005.