Find Spot record 325/1 - Cholmondeley Log Boat I

<1> Ordnance Survey, 1870-1982, Ordnance Survey Archaeological Record Card, SJ 55 SW 1 (Index). SCH2487.

An Iron Age dug-out canoe was found deep in a peat bog below Cholmondeley Castle in 1819. It was eleven feet long and thirty inches in breadth. [BRS 10/12/1962].

No further information. [T.P. Waggot 02/11/1964].

<2> Shone W, 1911, Prehistoric Man in Cheshire, p.88 (Book). SCH2710.

In the Chester Chronicle of June 11th, 1819, is an account of the discovery of an ancient canoe dug out of a Peat Bog below Cholmondeley Castle. It was a considerable depth from the surface. Its length was 11 feet, and in breadth 30 inches, and hollowed out of the trunk of a single tree. Similar to those recovered from the Mersey (Warrington)in 1893 and 1894.

<3> McGrail S, 1978, Logboats of England & Wales (BAR), Vol.51i p.77 (Monograph). SCH2004.

This log boat was found during peat bog digging near Cholmondeley Castle. It was reported to be in the grounds near the Castle in 1819; there is no trace since that date.

<4> Various, 1775 - 2023, Chester Chronicle, 11/6/1819 (Newspaper-Magazine). SCH938.

[Chester, Cheshire, and North Wales General Advertiser]: Some time ago, in digging in a peat bog, below Cholmondeley Castle, a boat of a very antique form, was found a considerable depth from the surface. The situation, there is no doubt, was once a mere, and this curious relic must have lain there for many ages. - It is about eleven feet long, and thirty inches in breadth, formed of the trunk of a tree, excavated, and in shape not much unlike an Indian Canoe. It is now in the grounds near the Castle.

<5> Longley D, 1977-1978, Longley Archive, No.227 (Paper Archive). SCH2005.

Dug-out canoe. Length eleven feet; breadth two and a half feet. Found "at considerable depth" in peat below Cholmondeley Castle in 1819.

<6> Various, Various, Oral communication to the HER, Edwards R, 10/02/2014 (Oral Communication). SCH2330.

Initially believed to be Iron Age in date, however it is probable that the log boat is of a similar date to those found elsewhere in Cheshire (in particular Cholmondeley Log Boat II CHER 325/2), which date from the eighth to thirteenth centuries AD. The find spot was initially assigned to the one kilometre grid square SJ 53 51. It is probable that the log boat was found in the deposits fringing Chapel Mere and Deer Park Mere, or the deposits inbetween which lie below the Castle.