Monument record 15511 - Haughton Moss

<1> Leah, MD; Wells, CE; Appleby, C; Huckerby, E, 1997, The Wetlands of Cheshire (North West Wetlands Survey 4), p.144 (Monograph). SCH3260.

Haughton 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 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.

Haughton Moss lies in the village of Haughton to the south-east of Bunbury. The moss first appears in the documentary record in 1574 in the Cholmondeley Deeds. It is also marked on Burdett's map of 1777 and subsequent county maps.The area was enclosed by Act of Parliament in 1859 and, although there are frequent references to 'Old Enclosed Lands', there is no evidence of moss rooms. The award includes provision for a common watercourse, the maintenance of which was met by a levy paid by the landowners of each allotment. As with other enclosure awards in the county, an allocation was made to the 'Overseers of the Poor' and an area set aside for the 'exercise and recreation' of the inhabitants of the township.