Monument record 15509 - The Moss or Malpas Moss

<1> Leah, MD; Wells, CE; Appleby, C; Huckerby, E, 1997, The Wetlands of Cheshire (North West Wetlands Survey 4), p.140,142-3 (Monograph). SCH3260.

The site of 'The Moss' or 'Malpas 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 formed part of a group of wetlands in the south-west of Cheshire, between Cholmondeley and the Shropshire border. The wetland type most common in this region is the mere, many of which are ringed by extensive areas of peat or other waterlogged deposits, however, small basin mires also occur. Pasture is the most common land-use in this region. These wetlands lie within, or on the fringes of, the belt of glacial deposits known as the Whitchurch moraine, which extends roughly along the county border and marks the southern boundary of the Cheshire plain. This landscape is characterised by the presence of numerous sandy ridges, hummocks and outwash plains and is thought to mark the boundary of the ice sheet during a temporary period of stagnation at the close of the last glaciation.

Many former mosslands are known from documentary sources/maps but modern soil and drift geology maps fail to show organic deposits. Malpas Moss was chosen for investigation by the North West Wetlands study as an example of one of these former wetlands. Survey of the site failed to identify any substantial peat deposits, the only evidence for the former existence of peat being the presence of restricted patches of organic soil on the poorly drained land in the centre of the former moss. Similarly, the field divisions within the former moss area appeared no different from those in the surrounding fields. This is in contrast to other former degraded mosses, where the long, thin fields ('moss rooms') are thought to indicate division of the mosses for peat cutting. In summary, for Malpas Moss, the only real evidence for its existence is now its name.

In terms of the documentary evidence for Malpas Moss, it is clearly illustrated on Burdett's map of 1777 and also appears on Greenwood's map of 1819 and Bryant's map of 1831, at which time it is shown as wasteland. The Tithe Map of 1839 shows that the area has been enclosed and although a few moss fieldnames are recorded, a large part of the moss is know as 'Grammer Fields'. A small block of seven fields, totalling just over nine acres, is depicted with the name 'moss'. These fields are listed as being 'Tillage' and were owned by the 'Overseers of the Township of Malpas Poor'.

Malpas Moss has had a variety of names over the centuries. The earliest reference is in the Cholmondeley Deeds which mention a 'Sputyll Moss' in 1472. However, by the late eighteenth century, the name 'The Moss' was in use. Greenwood refers to it as 'Arnoll Moss' and the OS First Edition 1 inch map of 1842, uses the name 'Hermitage Moss'. This latter name is supported by the use of 'Ankers Field' in a document of 1737, 'anker' deriving from the medieval English for hermit.

<2> Ordnance Survey, 1871-1882, Ordnance Survey County Series (Epoch 1) 25 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire (Maps and Plans). SCH2462.

The depiction of 'The Moss' on the OS first edition is larger in extent than current mapping implies. Some parallel, dashed lines shown in the north of the moss may imply limited division of the mossland.