Monument record 2490 - Church Moss, Davenham

<1> Gifford and Partners, 1992, A Further Assessment of the Archaeological Implications of the Preferred Route of the A533 Davenham Bypass, R2019 (Client Report). SCH4307.

Church Moss, Davenham. One of a series of small basin mires of the River Dane. Investigated in 1992 as it lay on the line of the new Davenham bypass. Desk based assessment, field walking and geophysics and palaeoenvironmental investigation carried out by Gifford and Partners, Stratascan and Colin Wells revealed potential of the site.

<2> University of Manchester Archaeological Unit, 1995, Davenham Bypass: Archaeological Evaluation, R2168 (Client Report). SCH4312.

In 1995, the University of Manchester Archaeological Unit was commissioned to evaluate and record a number of sites of archaeological potential along the line of the Davenham Bypass, including Church Moss Field. The evaluation comprised the excavation of seven trial trenches along with additional test pitting (six test pits) undertaken to assess the environmental and archaeological potential of Church Moss.

The results of the evaluation point to the potential presence of Mesolithic settlement on the margins of the mere. Study of collected timbers by the Palaeoecological Unit of the University of Manchester identified samples bearing evidence of notching/working by hand tools, also evidence of burning at the proximal and distal ends, both indicative of human activity. Scot's Pine dominated the timber samples taken, but also a prolific amount of birch bark was recorded, as well as wood of willow and hazel and the remains of circa 120 hazel nuts (whole and broken). One of the timbers from trench 2 produced a radio carbon date of 7810 BP (6535 BC) placing the forest into the Boreal period of the Holocene or the middle Mesolithic. The nature of the timber samples, together with an apparent lack of tree stumps/boles, suggest that the site was not simply one of woodland clearance. The sum of the environmental evidence points to Boreal forest vegetation and human occupation.

<3> Howard-Davis C and Buxton K, 2000, Excavations at Church Moss, Davenham, 1995-6. A Post-Glacial Environmental Sequence in Mid-Cheshire (Article in Journal). SCH3841.

Area excavation was carried out between October 1995 and January 1996 by LUAU. Despite detailed examination of the deposits, no firm evidence for human activity was found, except for late medieval and early post medieval farming or peat-cutting. All the wood and timbers revealed during the evaluation appear to represent naturally fallen trees. The palaeoenvironmental sequence within the mire proved to be of national significance. Mire developed in the early part of the late Devenisan late glacial, but with no significant expansion until the Windermere Interstadial (14,000 years ago). Climate cooled rapidly at the end of the interstadial as warmth-loving plants died out and cold-tolerant species became established creating a tundra landscape. Temperatures rose at the beginning of the Holocene and vegetation cover increased, with willow, birch and ferns in and around the mire and hazel, oak and elm in the vicinity. As the mire became more acidic it became dominated by sphagnum dominated fen. Pine woodland subsequently invaded the sphagnum bog. Widespread evidence for buring in both the late glacial and post-glacial peat deposits, but unlikely to have been caused by humans. In the post glacial peat there were a number of localised patches of charcoal, which may represent small cooking fires or hearths, but there is no other evidence to suggest a human origin. No flint tools, debitage or other artefacts found. Palaeoenvironmental sequence of such antiquity in Cheshire is not common. (See also Source 6)

<4> Hughes P, Kenward H, Hall A & Large F, 1998, Technical report: Reconstruction of Lateglacial and early Holocene mire succession and rates of (Unpublished Document). SCH3842.

<5> University of Manchester Archaeological Unit, 1995, Church Moss, Davenham: A computer simulation of the ground surface and sub-surface contours of the peat bottom, R2169 (Client Report). SCH4285.

A report produced in 1995 presents contour maps and 3D images of the ground surface and the bottom of the peat for Church Moss, Davenham. The data for this study came from two sources - section drawings and levels of trenches and test pits excavated during archaeological evaluation; also data from a series of bore holes produced by engineers while assessing the depth of peat for road construction purposes.

<6> Howard-Davis C and Buxton K, 2000, Excavations at Church Moss, Davenham, Cheshire, 1995-96 (Article in Journal). SCH8882.