Monument record 15478 - Nether Tabley Mere

<1> Leah, MD; Wells, CE; Appleby, C; Huckerby, E, 1997, The Wetlands of Cheshire (North West Wetlands Survey 4), p.99 (Monograph). SCH3260.

Nether Tabley Mere is listed 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 lying in the north of the county, to the north and west of Knutsford and extending to Nantwich to the south-west. Other sites include Rostherne Mere, Tatton Mere and, further west, Pick Mere and Budworth Mere. These wetlands are characterised by areas of open water, many of which are peat-fringed. Despite placename evidence suggesting the former existence of mosses, surviving examples are not common in this region, with the only extant site being Holford Moss, located between Knutsford and Northwich, in the centre of a large brine extraction field. The presence of underlying saliferous beds appears to be the reason for the existence/expansion of many of the wetlands. Rostherne Mere, for example, appears to be a kettle hole enlarged by subsidence in antiquity. More recent subsidence activity has been reported in the areas of Tabley and Tatton Meres.

Nether Tabley Mere lies just to the north of the larger 'Tabley Mere' which is an artificial lake excavated between 1761-9 as part of the construction of Tabley Hall and its surrounding grounds. However, Nether Tabley Mere is a small, natural glacial lake. It contains an island which is the site of Tabley Old Hall (CHER 1230/1/1). In 1725, cleaning out of Nether Tabley Mere led to the recovery of a Bronze Age shafthole axe (CHER 1225), now lost.