A SADDLEWORTH heritage group is teaming up with locals to dig up the past after receiving a £70,100 grant to support its research into the area’s Roman history.
The Friends of Castleshaw Roman Forts have won the Heritage Lottery Fund Support for their project entitled ‘Redefining Roman Castleshaw: Understanding and sharing our past’.
Excavations have so far at the nationally important site have uncovered a section of the main trans-Pennine Roman road running between the York and Chester, an early unmodified 1st century AD auxiliary fort, a later second century AD fortlet, and an associated civilian settlement.
Now, the major grant will enable the group to carry out a fresh excavation to re-examine trenches in the northern half of the fort, which dates back to Agricola’s conquest of the Pennines in the late 1st century AD.
Old excavation trenches dug there in 1907-8 and the late 1950s and 1960s, when Bronze Age pottery was found, will be re-examined and the area will be extended in a search for further Roman and prehistoric occupation or activity.
Colin Berry, the Diggle-based Chairman of the Friends of Castleshaw Roman Forts, commented: “This is fantastic news for Saddleworth and the district.
“The HLF grant will help us to preserve and open up these forts, saving them for future generations but also using them for a variety of community activities, and to provide volunteering, training and educational opportunities.
“I would like to thank Cllr Barbara Beeley and the District Partnership for their grant of £15,000 previously towards our projects as I believe without that work we wouldn’t have got this new grant.”
The community dig, which will start on Monday, July 7 and last four weeks, will provide opportunities for local school children and adult volunteers to get involved and help bring history to life.
Any finds will be assessed by experts before being stored and displayed at Saddleworth Museum in Uppermill.
There will also be daily site tours, a website blog to relay progress and discoveries, a series of winter lectures, and an end of project conference in March 2015.
Norman Redhead, Archaeological Adviser to the Friends, added: “I am really excited about this project as it is nearly 20 years since the last archaeological investigations took place at the site.
“There are so many questions that remain unanswered about the Roman fort and earlier settlement activity.”
The site was one of the first in the country to be afforded special protection in 1935 and is one of only around 180 known Roman auxiliary forts and just over 80 fortlets surviving across the country.
The Friends will work in partnership with the landowner (United Utilities), Castleshaw (Education) Centre, professional archaeologists, and Saddleworth Museum to deliver the project.
For more information visit: www.castleshawarchaeology.co.uk or ring chairman Colin Berry on 01457 871510 or 0776 572371 or e-mail chairman@castleshawarchaeology.co.uk
Anyone interested in volunteering please get in touch with archaeologist Vicky Nash, who will be supervising the community excavations, by emailing V.Nash@salford.ac.uk
You must be logged in to post a comment.