Monument record 15298 - Willey Moor

<1> Leah, MD; Wells, CE; Appleby, C; Huckerby, E, 1997, The Wetlands of Cheshire (North West Wetlands Survey 4), p.140, 143 (Monograph). SCH3260.

Willey Moor 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 a group of wetlands in the south-west of Cheshire, between Cholmondeley and the Shropshire border. The wetland type most common in this region is the mere, many of which are ringed by extensive areas of peat or other waterlogged deposits, however, small basin mires also occur. Pasture is the most common land-use in this region. These wetlands lie within, or on the fringes of, the belt of glacial deposits known as the Whitchurch moraine, which extends roughly along the county border and marks the southern boundary of the Cheshire plain. This landscape is characterised by the presence of numerous sandy ridges, hummocks and outwash plains and is thought to mark the boundary of the ice sheet during a temporary period of stagnation at the close of the last glaciation.

A brief assessment was carried out on Willey Moor, near Tushingham, as part of the study. It is an extensive area of shallow peat and mineral soils between Chomondeley and Marbury. At the time of survey, the area was almost wholly down to grass. Limited augering and dyke examination were undertaken and demonstrated the survival of shallow peat deposits over a large area. In addition, shell marl deposits, indicative of former areas of open water, were identified beneath the peat in a number of places.

In terms of documentary evidence, a seventeenth century 'Plan of Willey Moor, Tushingham' depicts the wetland and a number of interesting features. On the southern edge of the moor a small spit of land divided into five fields is depicted and labelled 'Moss Fields'; this appears to be an early enclosure as this area is not included in the 1795 Enclosure Award. On the northern edge of the moor, a group of irregular features are described as 'Turf Pits', and presumably represent peat cutting, while in the far north-west corner of the map (not on Willey Moor) a small field is marked as moss above a larger area described as flax pools.

In 1795, the enclosure award for Tushingham deals solely with Willey Moor. Apart from a number of very small enclosures along roadside verges, the area involved is open moorland with no evidence of moss rooms. However, by 1838, the tithe award states that there is no common land in the township, indicating enclosure of the moor has been completed. The apportionment lists numerous fields as 'Allotment on Willey Moor', which suggests a formalised division of the land and this is reflected in the field pattern on the tithe map. The plots are generally small, only two or three acres, and, unlike some of the mosses further east in the county, they are held by a relatively small number of individuals.