Monument record 7474 - Holcroft Moss including Glazebrook Moss

<1> Leah, MD; Wells, CE; Appleby, C; Huckerby, E, 1997, The Wetlands of Cheshire (North West Wetlands Survey 4), p.46-63 (Monograph). SCH3260.

Holcroft Moss was investigated by the North West Wetlands project, an archaeological and paleoecological study of the varied wetlands of Cheshire, undertaken between 1993-95. It forms part of the northern moss complex (Rixton, Risley, Woolston, Holcroft) comprising wetlands which lie within or close to the middle reaches of the Mersey Valley (Central Mersey Catchment), an area which contains the most extensive areas of peat in the modern county of Cheshire. Moreover, it is the only Cheshire wetland group situated in a predominantly arable area. These mosses have similarities to other Mersey Valley mosses, such as Chat Moss and Carrington Moss in Greater Manchester. Pestfurlong and Glazebrook Mosses lie at the west and south-west extents of Holcroft Moss respectively; they form part of the same area of wetland/peat deposit.

The mires initially developed in hollows in the glacio-fluvial gravels which lie along the Mersey Valley High Terrace, a feature which formed towards the end of the last glaciation when drainage into the Mersey estuary was blocked by ice and water was diverted into the Dee estuary via the Deva Spillway. From these initial hollows the peat spread out onto adjacent areas of till. As such, they represent the western continuation of the extensive series of ridge-raised mires occupying similar shallow depressions in the Mersey floodplain terrace, in total covering an area of circa 3500 hectares.

Much of the Holcroft, Risley, Rixton, Woolston complex of mosses fell within the historical parish of Winwick, which included twelve townships, one of which, Culcheth, encompassed much of the area’s mosslands. This township was divided into four parts, a division which occurred in the thirteenth century on the death of Gilbert de Culcheth in 1246. In keeping with feudal tradition, his four daughters became wards of his lord, the baron of Warrington, who married them to the four sons of Hugh de Hindley, leading to a four-way split of the Manor of Culcheth, and the township of the same name, into Culcheth, Holcroft, Peasfurlong or Pestfurlong, and Risley. The precise boundaries of the individual manors and their lands remained rather uncertain, potentially because they lay in the centre of the mosslands, however, the manors long retained their integrity, with sites of the manorial centres still identifiable. The Manor of Peasfurlong lay at the extant moated site of Old Abbey Farm (CHER 604/1/0); Holcroft Hall (CHER 609/1), a late fifteenth/sixteenth century building, still survives; Risley Manor was the site of Risley Old Hall (CHER 603/1) which existed until the nineteenth century; also Culcheth Hall (CHER 610/1), now demolished. There are records of a further manor at Glazebrook, but little is known of this and its site remains unknown.

A manorial deed, dated 1526, records an agreement between John Holcrofte, of Holcroft Manor, and Gilberte Culchethe, of Culcheth Manor, that the former should have all such moss-rooms and turbary as the latter and his tenants had previously enjoyed. It is likely that further details of peat cutting, turbary rights and other aspects of exploitation of the mosslands occur in the extensive collection of medieval manorial deeds and court rolls relating to the various manors of Culcheth which still require investigation.

There are two historical accounts dating to 1526 of an incident that occurred on the mossland adjacent to the Glaze Brook, which lies just to the east of the Holcroft/Glazebrook Moss complex. The two accounts comprise Leland’s Itinerary and a contemporary broadsheet. Both describe a period of heavy rain which led to an ‘eruption’ of the moss. Such ‘bog bursts’ may be explained by the period of climatic deterioration in North West Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In this case, vast amounts of peat were swept into the Glaze Brook, blocking the stream and polluting the Mersey as far downstream as Warrington. The amount of debris was so large that it stopped the Hollinfare ferry from operating and overwhelmed the mill at Culcheth.

The earliest detailed map of the mossland area is a 1757 plan of the Pestfurlong Estate, then owned by the Standish family and centred on the moated site ‘Old Abbey Farm’. The land around the moat is shown divided into small fields and enclosures, illustrating the gradual process of piecemeal enclosure and reclamation of the mossland occurring throughout the medieval and post medieval periods. In addition, the boundary between Pestfurlong Estate and the neighbouring Holcroft Estate is clearly defined where it passes through the enclosed land. This is not the case on the unenclosed mossland where, although both Holcroft and Pestfurlong Mosses are named, no formal boundary is depicted.

Yate’s map of Lancashire, dated 1786, only depicts two mosses in the Culcheth area, these being Risley (covering the Risley, Rixton and Woolston moss complex) and Glazebrook (covering Glazebrook, Holcroft, Pestfurlong and Hoyles moss complex). Greenwood’s map of 1818 depicts a very similar picture, but with the addition of township boundaries.

A document dated to 1749 records an agreement between Richard Stanley of Culcheth, Sir Thomas Standish of Pestfurlong, John Blackburne of Risley and James Tyldesley of Holcroft, to divide the commons and wastes of Culcheth township. This agreement was confirmed the following year by Private Act of Parliament and marks the beginnings of the move to enclosure and formalisation of boundaries. However, the process of enclosure of the mosslands appears not to have been straight forward as illustrated by controversy surrounding the Tithe commutation survey for Culcheth township during the 1830s and completed in 1838. A series of disputes are recorded over the location of the boundary between Holcroft Moss and Pestfurlong Moss. The production of the Tithe Map formalised, for the first time, the boundaries between the various manors of Culcheth.

Holcroft moss has been subject to palaeoecological study by Birks in 1965. He produced a pollen diagram constructed from a 3.5m deep core taken from an area now below the M62. This showed a history of vegetation change at the site dating from late Flandrian II through to recent (i.e. nineteenth century) times.
He suggested that Holcroft moss began life as a lacustrine system during late Flandrian II (c 4000 cal BC) which developed into extensive reed swamp with abundant sedges. The site may have been fringed by fen carr characterised by alder and willows. Birches became more prominent members of the carr system in early Flandrian III (c 3500 cal CB), which was interpreted as reflecting drier surface conditions. A change to ombrotrophic communities followed but initially conditions appear to have been comparatively dry judging by the highly humified Sphagnum / Calluna peats which represent this phase. An abrupt change to wetter conditions followed, evidenced by the presence of flooding indicator species. Peats dominated the upper stratigraphy and were observed to be interrupted by two well-defined humified Sphagnum bands, which were interpreted as representing phases of slow mire growth induced by relatively dry conditions. In summary, the diagram displays good evidence for continual human disturbance (such as woodland clearance) in and around the catchment of the mire from the Neolithic onwards. The ubiquity of 'cultural indicator species' is strong evidence for this as is the appearance of cereal pollen in the upper meter of the profile.

<2> Dodgson J McN, 1970-2, 1981, The Place-Names of Cheshire, Vol. I p.288 & Vol. II p.65 (Book). SCH3228.

<3> Birks H J B, 1965, Pollen Analytical Investigations at Holcroft Moss, Lancashire, and Lindow Moss, Cheshire, Vol. 53, No. 2 (Jul, 1965), p.299-314 (Article in Journal). SCH1518.

Stratigraphical investigations at Holcroft and Lindow Mosses are described and the results of pollen analyses are presented. The organic deposits date from the Atlantic Period (Zone VIIA) and the lower part of each moss records reedswamp, succeeded by carr woodland and Sphagnum bog. The main upper part of each pollen analysis shows episodes of forest clearance and regeneration which are related to the archaeology and settlement history of the area.