Monument record 15469 - Soss Moss

<1> Leah, MD; Wells, CE; Appleby, C; Huckerby, E, 1997, The Wetlands of Cheshire (North West Wetlands Survey 4), p.46, 88 (Monograph). SCH3260.

Soss 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 a series of wetlands in the area extending from Wilmslow in the north to Macclesfield in the east and Sandbach and Congleton in the south. Within this region a variety of wetland types are present from small basin mires west of Macclesfield to large mosses such as Danes Moss and Lindow Moss. The wetlands also display a wide variation in their degree of preservation. The group comprises two contrasting landscapes with the majority of wetlands in a region termed the ‘marginal belt’, with a smaller group centred around Bag Mere, on the fringes of the Cheshire Plain. The majority of the wetlands have developed in depressions and hollows in the surface of the varied glacial deposits.

The name 'Soss Moss' means either a swamp, or more likely derived from the dialect word 'soss' meaning a wet, sloppy mess (see source 2). The impression given is of a very wet moss. The site is now woodland ('Sossmoss Wood') and is an SSSI.

<2> Dodgson J McN, 1970-2, 1981, The Place-Names of Cheshire, Vol I, p.97, 99 (Book). SCH3228.