Monument record 15401 - Risley Moss

<1> Leah, MD; Wells, CE; Appleby, C; Huckerby, E, 1997, The Wetlands of Cheshire (North West Wetlands Survey 4), p.19-44 (Monograph). SCH3260.

Risley 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. These mosses have similarities to other Mersey Valley mosses, such as Chat Moss and Carrington Moss in Greater Manchester. 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.

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.

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.

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. The Tithe Map of 1842 for Rixton-with-Glazebrook Township depicts the mineral soil between Manchester Road (now the A57) and the River Mersey divided into small fields illustrated piecemeal reclamation on the mossland fringe, with many small fields described as ‘intake’ or ‘moss meadow’. However, the majority of the Rixton moss complex is shown as unenclosed, although the boundary with Culcheth Township is clearly defined. It was the last quarter of the nineteenth century before division of majority of the mosslands was achieved.

In the twentieth century, large-scale commercial peat cutting was carried out on an unenclosed portion of Risley Moss. The majority of peat cutters were local, but there were also a small number of migrant Dutch workers. This activity has left a complex pattern of baulks and peat cuttings. In 1938, the Risley Royal Ordnance Factory was constructed and operated until 1946 (CHER 4092/0/0). Large amounts of munitions were burnt or dumped on the former peat cuttings. The factory site remained derelict until it was acquired in 1970 by the Warrington New Town Development Corporation when a large portion of the site was developed for housing, but also the area of former peat cuttings was made into a nature reserve, opened to the public in 1980. Additionally, a series of landfill sites to the north of the M62 has affected the Risley moss complex.

As part of the North West Wetlands study, a series of 37 cores were taken from the peat soils at Risley and Rixton mosses. The highest point recorded on the surface of the moss was 22.5m OD while the lowest was 11.44m OD. Although heavy truncation of the peat over much of the site obscures the relationship between the upper and lower stratigraphy, the evidence suggests that in common with the other mire complexes occupying the Mersey Terrace, Risley/Rixton is a ridge-raised mire which has developed over time by progressive overgrowth of the peat onto intervening mineral ridges. Highly humified peats of circa 1-3m are typical of much of the moss, although the deepest and best preserved peats of up to 4.5m depth are found within the area of the Risley Moss nature reserve, which has SSSI status, also around Moss Head and Rixton Firs.

The basal deposits of peat are represented by brushwood peats with some reed and sedge present. In many areas, this is succeeded by peats formed under a relatively dry regime and characterised by wood and bryophytes such as Polytrichum and S sect Acutifolia. This ‘dry’ phase of mire growth has been recognised elsewhere in the North West, also in northern Europe. Eriophorum/Calluna-dominated peats succeed this phase, followed by Sphagnum imbricatum dominated peats, although in some places these are punctuated by S sect Cuspidata pool peats.

This stratigraphic sequence represents four main phases of environmental change. During the Neolithic, fen carr must have been widely established across the shallow wet depressions in which the future mosses developed, along with potential woodland on the mineral ridges. Sporadic fires are attested through the presence of macroscopic charcoal in the lower stratigraphy. During the Bronze Age a change to open, acid, but dry conditions occurred, characterised by bryophytes such as Polytrichum, although Eriophorum and Calluna were also widespread, along with scrub woodland. The local environment probably consisted of a series of shallow, acid mires with scrub-covered mineral ridges. The presence of charcoal again attests to the occurrence of fires. Later, the system became more open still with a change to Eriophorum/Calluna dominated bog. A switch to much wetter conditions, probably in the early Iron Age, enabled the widespread establishment of S imbricatum communities which dominated the moss until the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The wetter conditions were also accompanied by a decline in the influence of fire. Even wetter episodes may have affected the mire surface as evidenced by the occasional presence of S sect Cuspidata pool peats.