Monument record 314 - Promontory Fort East of Peckforton Mere

<1> Harris, B.E. (ed), 1987, Victoria County History - A History of the County of Chester: Volume I, 1/109 Longley D 1987 (Book). SCH3556.

There is a small sub-rectangular ditched enclosure that partly encircles a knoll at 75m AOD adjacent to Peckforton Mere, Cheshire. The mere and stream-bed entering it may formally have completed the circuit. The site is severely levelled by a ploughing, and the ditch is currently visible as slight depression. On morphological grounds it is considered an Iron Age promontory fort.

<2> Ordnance Survey, 1870-1982, Ordnance Survey Archaeological Record Card, SJ55NW7 1976 (Index). SCH2487.

Cropmark of the east portion if a sub-rectangular earthwork; the west portion quarried, or cut away, possibly because of work associated with the adjacent Peckforton Mere.

The remains of a small probable IA settlement situated upron the SW end of a low ridge of arable land at present under pasture. The ridge is about 10m in height and overlooks Peckforton Meere to the SW and former marshland along the flanks to the NW and SE. Thus defence was required only to the NE and comprised a ditch probably with an inner bank. Ploughing has reduced the earthworks to a shallow ditch, 12m in width and up to 0.5m in depth, which surves and fades out at both ends upon the natural slopes, enclosing an area measuring 70m NW-SE by 55m transversely. There are no traces of ramparts, or of internal structures.

<3> English Heritage, Various, Old/Original Schedule Entry (Scheduled Ancient Monuments Description), 25703 (Scheduling Record). SCH4606.

<4> English Heritage, Various, Schedule Entry (Scheduled Ancient Monuments Amendment), 25703 (Scheduling Record). SCH2950.

The monument includes a promontory fort on the east side of Peckforton Mere. The mere used to be much larger during the prehistoric period and this promontory would have jutted out into it. The River Gowy Originally flowed out of the mere on the north side and this formed the northern defence of the fort. The present stream course lies further north than the original river and has been diverted by recent drainage operations.

The fort has a bank and external ditch cutting off a piece of high ground which used to be a promontory and curving around it on the north and south sides, leaving the west side open to be defended in antiquity by the mere and the old course of the Gowy.

The original bank and ditch are only partially visible as upstanding earthworks. They have been much reduced by ploughing and in places the line of the infilled ditch is only visible on aerial photographs. Where it does survive as an earthwork the bank is 16m wide and only 0.3m high. The ditch survives as upstanding earthworks; the remaining 280m length of defences is only visible on aerial photographs. The area thus enclosed is about 0.35ha in extent.

<5> Various, Aerial photographs, CPE/UK/1935/2340-1 RAF 1947 (Aerial Photograph). SCH128.

Remains of a sub rectangular earthwork ( cropmark) at SJ5425 5768

<6> Oxford Archaeology North, 2008, Habitats and Hillforts of the Cheshire sandstone Ridge: Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment, R2893 (Client Report). SCH5259.

The site has the remains of a small sub-rectangular ditched enclosure that partly encircles a knoll adjacent to Peckforton Mere. The mere and stream bed entering it may formerly have completed the circuit. The site was severely levelled by ploughing and the ditch is visible as a slight depression. Around 180m of bank and ditch survives as upstanding earthworks, but the remaining 280m is only visible on aerial photographs. The area enclosed is c 0.35ha in extent

<7> National Museums & Galleries on Merseyside, 2005, An Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment of the Sandstone Ridge ECOnet Partnership. (Client Report). SCH4718.

Iron Age Promontory fort east of Peckforton Mere. Small subrectangular ditched enclosure partly encircles knoll at 75m AOD adjacent to Peckforton Mere. The mere and stream bed entering it may formally have completed the circuit. Site severely levelled by ploughing with the ditch, visible as a slight depression. Considered Iron Age on morphological grounds. Ditch 20m wide and up to 0.5m deep. Where the earthworks still survive the bank is 16m wide and 0.3m high and the ditch is 13m wide and 0.5m deep at its centre. Around 180m of bank and ditch survives as upstanding earthworks, with the remaining 280m is only visible on aerial photographs. The area enclosed is c 0.35ha in extent

<8> Leah, MD; Wells, CE; Appleby, C; Huckerby, E, 1997, The Wetlands of Cheshire (North West Wetlands Survey 4) (Monograph). SCH3260.

The mere itself was subject to a study to identify past episodes of woodland clearance by means of mineral magnetic measurements from the lake sediments. The results suggested that two marked episodes of intensified erosion of soils had taken place in the vicinity, possibly dating to the Romanso-British period and from the late medieval to the eighteenth century AD. The early medieval period, on the other hand, appeared to be characterised by relative soil stability and regeneration of vegetation

<9> Archaeophysica, 2012, Peckforton Mere, Cheshire Geophysical Survey Report (Client Report). SCH8402.

Magnetic and twin probe electrical resistance surveys were commissioned to explore the site of a possible promontory fort at Peckforton Mere as part of an ongoing project examining fortified sites of presumed Iron Age date in Cheshire.
The magnetic data was found to contain variation due to changes in soil chemistry and weak signs of ridge and furrow, but of an enclosure nothing was seen. In contrast, the electrical resistance survey revealed clear anomalies typical of the bank and ditch of a fortified enclosure.

The site has been cultivated in the past as ridge and furrow crosses it and presumably this was the primary agent for the reduction of the earthworks. Whether this also accounts for the apparent lack of internal features cannot be ascertained at this stage.

<10> Garner, Dan and others, 2016, Hillforts of the Cheshire Ridge, p.64-66 (Book). SCH8403.

Geophysical survey in 2012 commissioned as part of he Habitats and Hillforts project aim to examine fortified sites of presumed Iron Age date in Cheshire. The Electrical resistance survey revealed clear anomalies typical of the bank and ditch of a fortified enclosure.

The whole circuit of the ditched enclosure is defined by a ditch outside a high resistance area which is typical of a spread bank. This implies that bank material still survives i.e. there will be prehistoric surfaces buried beneath its debris. A further bank may exist outside the southeast side of the enclosure which hints at multiple defensive structures at least on this side.