Monument record 15491 - Wybunbury Moss

<1> Leah, MD; Wells, CE; Appleby, C; Huckerby, E, 1997, The Wetlands of Cheshire (North West Wetlands Survey 4), p.120-2, 129 (Monograph). SCH3260.

Wybunbury 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 Wybunbury Moss, White Moss and Oakhanger 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. One example is Wybunbury, which is famous for its Schwingmoor structure, created by secondary subsidence of underlying salt-bearing strata creating a basin in which the schwingmoor formed. In addition, it has been suggested that both White Moss and its immediate neighbour to the west, Oakhanger Moss, may owe their origin to the former presence of pingos.

Although the village of Wybunbury appears in Domesday Book, the names Wybunbury Moss and Wybunbury Mere, located separately from the moss (CHER 15499), are not formalised until the early nineteenth century when they appear on Bryant's map of 1831. However, a Patent Roll for 1549 refers to 'le Mossfelde' and there are occasional references in the court rolls for Wybunbury Manor from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries to peat cutting rights and fines for their infringement. The 1845 Tithe Map depicts several crofts on the north side of the moss, with long strips running south into the heart of the moss. These strips, which are shown by dotted lines indicating that they are unfenced, are generally referred to as 'Croft and part of Moss' in the Tithe Apportionment; they were undoubtedly cut for peat.

Despite its history of disturbance, Wybunbury retains considerable importance as a palaeoecological archive. In 1963, palynological and stratigraphical studies by Birks, produced a pollen diagram (unpublished) from an 8m long core which indicates mire growth began just before the Flandrian I/II transition (possibly circa 6000 cal BC). The absence of sediments older than this date is thought to be a characteristic feature of the Cheshire salt solution hollows (Tallis 1973), potentially corroborating that Wybunbury owes its existence to this process. Cultural indicator species are prominent in the pollen record after the Elm Decline, which occurs around 5.80m and, together with the fluctuatioins in arboreal pollen notable above this level, were interpreted by Birks in terms of eight clearance and regeneration episodes. A feature of especial interest in the diagram is a large peak of Humulus-type pollen discernible in the upper half metre of the core - a feature noted elsewhere in Cheshire (Lindow Moss, Chat Moss).