FRIENDS of MELLOR ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRUST
NEWSLETTER No. 2 JULY 2002.

THE LOCAL HERITAGE INITIATIVE GRANT
The big news last year was that the Trust was awarded a Local Heritage Initiative grant of up to £13,525. The LHI is run by The Countryside Agency with financial support from the Heritage Lottery Fund and Nationwide. The LHI grant was not allowed to fund archaeological excavations, but in other ways is intended to foster involvement in the local heritage. The purpose of our grant is:

We have the computer with touch screen ready to go into a safe room in the Parish Centre. The surveying was completed and work on installing data on the computer will begin in August.

The Parish Centre is now completely upgraded, renovated and re-equipped and is an attractive venue for all manner of community events. A display case has been installed in the Centre but no finds with descriptions are in place yet! The digital camera was used to record last years excavations and Open Days, all the photos are on CD. The display case, with photos and information, is on the wall of the Hearse House by the entrance to the church. It was installed last September and is frequently looked at by visitors. A booklet was also produced and has sold very well.

Susannah England, North West England manager for the LHI, visited on the Sunday Open Day and was very impressed with the success of our tours of the site. She enjoyed the talks given, was amazed at the number of visitors and very pleased with the booklet.

Volunteer hours were needed to the equal £12,000 of the grant. A volunteer day counted as £50, a professional day given free as £150. We recorded every volunteer hour! Workers on the excavation, the time spent digging out the well, the number of people involved in preparation for and during the Open Days, publicity, on the gate, traffic duty, even preparation and sale of refreshments.

The LHI allows groups to apply for up to £25,000. We have put in an application for a computer projector, a new booklet, display material, money for computer modelling and more geophysical surveying. A portion of a grant is now allowed to be used for the actual excavations, so we have included that in our costings.

LAST YEAR'S EXCAVATIONS
Last year a large area in the field was excavated where it was hoped to find an Iron Age house, across the line of the ditch. No house was found but several post holes were located. The relationship of the holes to each other is still unknown. Geologists were delighted to see exposed a bend in a river that flowed towards Mill Brow many million of years ago. A long section of the ditch was opened up and just before the Open Day around thirty sherds of an Iron Age pot were found. This is an exceedingly important discovery, unique for this area and making us a 'named site'. The pieces of pot are being conserved, computer drawn and thin section analyzed by experts at Sheffield University. The restored 'Mellor Pot' will be on display during the Open Days. The other important discovery was a metre wide and deep pit cut into the bed rock a short distance from the section of the ditch in the Old Vicarage garden. It was possibly and Iron Age storage pit, later used by the Romans as a post hole. Archaeologists stare into it and theorise! Are there more to be found close by?

In the autumn resistivity, magnetometry, and ground radar geophysical work was carried out to try and determine the line of the ditch beyond the Vicarage and car park. Interesting results but the line of the ditch is not yet established.

THIS YEAR'S EXCAVATIONS.
Already this year test pitting on the triangular shaped field has been carried out to determine if the area was suitable for a large excavation site this summer. A large post hole, several pieces of Iron Age pot and other features were found, but it was decided that this was not enough to warrant a big excavation this year. Archaeologists started work on August 5th on a section in the Old Vicarage garden, next to where to the complicated and rewarding section was excavated in 1999 and 2000. Other sites include a ditch section in the field and areas near the pit found last year.

Already erected is a 15' diameter Iron Age round house in the triangular field! This has been done by students of the Ridge Danyers College using money from their part in an European Union project. The hut required planning permission and has been allowed to stand for two years. It looks absolutely marvellous!!