Monument record 15490 - Oakhanger Moss and former Mere

<1> Leah, MD; Wells, CE; Appleby, C; Huckerby, E, 1997, The Wetlands of Cheshire (North West Wetlands Survey 4), p.119, 129-130 (Monograph). SCH3260.

Oakhanger 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 lying between Crewe and the Shropshire border, with a further outlying group to the north-east, between Crewe and Alsager. Within this area, a variety of wetland types is represented from numerous small basin mires, often less than 1 hectare in extent, to the valley mire deposits found alongside some of the minor rivers and streams. Larger mosses (circa 10-20 hectares) such as White Moss, Oakhanger Moss and Wybunbury Moss, also occur. The underlying geology is masked by drift deposits made up of both till and fluvio-glacial sands and gravels. In places these deposits have resulted in the flat landscape characteristic of the Cheshire Plain, but in some areas, particularly to the south of Crewe, a much more varied and irregular topography occurs. Many wetlands developed in kettle holes left in the surface of these glacial deposits, although the role of subsidence of salt solution hollows also played a part in some cases, such as Wybunbury. In addition, it has been suggested that both Oakhanger Moss and its immediate neighbour to the east, White Moss, may owe their origin to the former presence of pingos. Together they represent one of the largest extant areas of peat in Cheshire, although much of White Moss has now been destroyed by mineral extraction.

Both Oakhanger Moss and White Moss are depicted as two separate areas on Burdett's map of 1777. Early maps show that Oakhanger, itself, was subdivided into two distinct areas, Oakhanger Mere and, to the north-west, Oakhanger Moss, as depicted on the Tithe map for Haslington (1840). The mere survived until at least the mid-nineteenth century. The apportionment gives the area of the mere as 27 acres, 0 roods, 10 perches, and the waste part of the moss as 18 acres, 2 roods, 27 perches. There are numerous 'moss' field names around both Oakhanger Moss and White Moss.

The earliest mention of the sites occurs in a Charter of 1351 which mentions 'Okehunger Moss'. Oak stumps have frequently been found in the moss helping to explain the name. The mere is first mentioned in 1577 while 'le mosse' mentioned in Rolls of 1608 and 1611 probably refers to White Moss. Both were held by Sir John Delves-Broughton of Doddington, the principal landowner in the township. A Rent Roll or Moss Book of 1606 (transcribed in 'Cheshire Sheaf', 1902) records 'depp-turves, flaeturves and firewood gotten by severall persons' within the moss, and lists nearly a hundred tenants. There are references to the discovery of a wooden figure (CHER 2499) at the moss, found while cutting peat probably towards the end of the eighteenth century; it considered likely that it is this area of Oakhanger that the wooden figurine was probably found. Other documentary records, also dating to the seventeenth century, describe legal challenges to turbary rights on the mosses.