Monument record 7412 - Early Medieval activity at Kelsborrow

<1> Cheshire West and Chester Historic Environment Service, 2012, Report on an archaeological evaluation at Kelsborrow Castle (DRAFT), R3557 (Report). SCH7286.

In 2012 archaeological investigations were carried out at Kelsborrow including a reinvestigation of the 1973 trench and the cutting of two new trenches to the south close to the cliff face and in the north-west sector of the site. The excavations revealed several phases of activity from pre-hillfort activity to construction of the earth rampart through to medieval re-occupation and later agricultural use.

The evidence included a deposit [131] in trench 1 containing wood charcoal radiocarbon dated to 1020-1160 AD. A second charcoal deposit [140] returned a radiocarbon date of 990-1120 AD. No further interpretation of these deposits is available at this time.

<2> Garner, Dan and others, 2016, Hillforts of the Cheshire Ridge, p232-234, 268-269 (Book). SCH8403.

The identification of deposits and features dating to the early medieval period in both trenches 1 and 3 during the 2011 excavation was unexpected.The earliest feature identified for this phase was a shallow sub-circular pit in trench 3 which contained charcoal rich fill that produced a radio carbon date of cal AD690-890. The charred plant remains recovered from the fill included fragments of grass, wheat and oats which might indicate that grain processing was taking place on site. A single charred grape pip was also present.

Examination of the section through the outer ditch identified the northern lip of the earliest surviving phase of this feature, which produced a radio carbon date of cal AD 1020-1160. This might suggest that the promontory enclosure was refortified in the Saxo- Norman period. An almost identical radiocarbon date of Cal AD990-1120 was produced from a charcoal rich fill of a pit in the hillfort interior. The three early medieval dates recovered from a relativeley small sample of the hillfort interior might suggest fairly extensive occupation during several periods of use rather than a single event.