Mellor Ancient History
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The ancient history of the village of Mellor and surrounding hamlets in Greater Manchester, England is still shrouded in considerable mystery and the excavations have so far done more to add to the puzzlement than dispel it.
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[edit] Background
[edit] Previously Known Ancient History
It has long been known that Mellor dates back to Saxon and Medieval times - the local church of St. Thomas has the oldest-known pulpit in Britain and quite possibly beyond, dating back to 1330 or 1340. Carved from a single oak trunk, it is astonishing in its elegance and durability. The baptismal font, carved from local gritstone, dates back to the pre-Norman era. Recent research, however, indicates that the settlement of Mellor is actually far older. Although nearby villages and hamlets sport Round Barrows and standing stones, it had been thought that the site of Mellor itself had been unoccupied. As such it was quite a surprise to locals when, during a particularly severe drout, evidence of a truly ancient settlement started to be uncovered.
[edit] Myths and Legends
Legends of ancient battles and rebellions exist but the supposed sites of these events have not been excavated and so there is no firm evidence at this time for them having occurred. Legends of gold in a round barrow near Mellor led the Bishop of Disley to ransack the tomb in the 1800s, but local history describes nothing of value being found.
One of the older legends speaks of a Celtic chieftain asking his druids how to defeat the Romans who are approaching. He is told that he must sacrifice his eldest daughter. This he did at the site known as the Druid Stones (now known as the Robin Hood Picking Rods), at the time and in the manner demanded by the Druids. Together with anyone who could carry a spear or sword, he massed his forces at the top of a nearby hill (usually assumed to be the hill known as the Ludworth Intakes). The battle was long and fierce, but in the end the chieftain was dead and his people defeated. Depending on the version of the legend, he's either buried under the cairn at the very top of Ludworth Intakes, or in the round barrow slightly to the south of that. (The round barrow is marked on maps and on archaeological websites as Brown Low.)
Another legend refers to the Druid Stones being renamed Robin Hood Picking Rods due to Robin Hood shooting at them from an astonishing distance, chipping one of the stones as he did so.
[edit] Origin of the Name
The origin of the word "Mellor" is uncertain. In one Celtic dialect, the term would translate to "the bare (or rounded) hill". This creates a number of problems. The hill is most certainly not bare (it has always had wooded sections) and is a ridge, so is definitely not round.
Another problem is that we do not know the age of the name and so cannot identify which dialect would have been used. If the name arose during or after the Roman Occupation, the dialect spoken in this region may well have been "Cwmbran" (or Cumbric), a dialect of Brythonic that is now extinct and may have had a different meaning attached. This is not unusual in the Brythonic family of Celtic languages, of which Welsh, Cornish and Breton are the three surviving forms. These fragmented from the original Brythonic through isolation and from borrowing words and ideas from the languages imported by the Romans. Very few Roman soldiers were actually from Rome, so many could speak languages other than Latin.
If, however, the name pre-dates Roman times but post-dates the Iron Age settlement, the original Brythonic language would have been in use - although, as the finds indicate that they traded extensively, there is room for speculation even on something so basic.
There are other possibilities, however. The name may post-date the Romans. The name "Mellor" does not appear in the Norman-era Domesday Book, although the neighboring town of Ludworth (recorded as Lodeuorde) is listed. This opens up the interesting possibility that Lodeuorde originally included Mellor and that they split into two distinct areas at a later date.
The Celts were well known for not writing things down, but the Romans and Saxons certainly did make fairly extensive records at times. None have been found in the areas excavated. In the absence of any such writings, the origin of the name cannot be established. There are simply too many possibilities and insufficient evidence to assert one over another.
[edit] Archaeological Timeline
Archaeologists excavating in Mellor have uncovered evidence of a sizable settlement from around 400 BC, but a large number of finds have dated back as far as 10,000 BC, indicating much more ancient inhabitants. Finds now span from early Mesolithic times until the 13th or 14th centuries with no evidence of a sustained break.
[edit] Mesolithic Times
The settlement is believed to have existed in a number of different forms. The mesolithic settlement would likely have been either mud huts or an open-air camp. No evidence is likely to have survived of any buildings they would have used, so it is doubtful it will ever be known for certain as to how they lived. Evidence of a settlement takes the form of the remains of manufacture and repair of flint tools.
It is currently supposed that in early Mesolithic times that Mellor was not continuously inhabited. Instead, it was the site of a summer camp. This camp appears to have become a permanent settlement in late Mesolithic or in Neolithic times.
[edit] Mellor Hillfort and the Iron Age
The Iron Age settlement is believed to have held between 2,000 and 4,000 individuals in a large number of round houses. Although the houses themselves have long since rotted away, there are very clear signs of postholes that would have supported the houses and drainage ditches around the larger houses.
There is also a perimeter ditch. This would probably not have been defensive in nature, as it is neither deep nor wide. Nor is there any clear evidence at this time of an earth bank on either side of the ditch, although there are some signs of a double-layer stone wall on the outside of excavated sections. Interestingly, some of the houses seem to have been built across the ditch, suggesting that the settlement changed shape over the time it was occupied.
Although there is no clear evidence of any defensive structures or fortifications, the settlement is nonetheless classified by archaeologists as a hill fort for reasons of convention, although it is now more often referred to as a hill settlement.
Artifacts discovered on the site itself from this period include large numbers of fire-cracked pebbles, pottery sherds and the remains of crucibles used for producing bronze items.
[edit] Roman Occupation
At this time, not much is known about the Roman occupation of Mellor. Jewelry and coins from the Roman times indicate someone of significant status lived in Mellor. This may have been a trader, as Mellor is within walking distance of the Pennine Way, which was used by the Roman army to transport men and goods from Londinium to their northern outposts and Hadrian's Wall.
There is now substantial evidence of manufacturing center in Mellor for pottery, although the site of manufacture itself has not yet been discovered. It is unclear if the person of significant status was linked to the pottery manufacture, as no houses or other Roman structures have been located.
So far, the evidence is suggestive of Romano-British natives, with nothing to indicate a Roman military presence, however a Roman hillfort may well have been located outside of the area so far excavated.
[edit] The Saxon Era and the Dark Ages
For reasons that are yet to be uncovered, the Saxons built a church at the southern-most end of the Iron Age settlement some time in the 7th or 8th centuries. The church was subsequently destroyed and rebuilt, possibly several times. However, the font and the altar survived intact and are still in use today. So far, not much from Saxon times has been discovered by the archaeological excavations.
Of the other marauders and invaders associated with the Dark Ages, such as the Angles, Jutes, Norse and Danes, no evidence has been found.
[edit] The Norman Conquest
Again, little is known for certain. The Domesday Book does not record the name of Mellor (although it does list Ludworth, a neighboring town) and suggests that everything in the area had been destroyed to suppress a major rebellion. Nonetheless, it is local lore that Mellor Hall is built on the foundations of the house of a Norman nobleman. At this time, no work at all has been carried out in or around Mellor Hall, making it impossible to know which story is closer to the truth. However, the recent find of a large 13th century Hall near the primary settlement would suggest that a Norman-era house would more likely be located in that area.
The entry for Ludworth is worth mentioning in more detail as it refers to an abbey (which may well have existed on the site of a large collection of church buildings located in Marple Bridge) and a church that it names as the "Church of Hope". It mentions no other religious buildings. As the church in Mellor certainly survived, the implication would be that this was the "Church of Hope" identified in the Domesday Book, assuming that if other religious buildings had existed, they would also have been mentioned.
[edit] Medieval Times
Post-holes have been found that indicate that an Aisled Hall existed on the site of the prior settlements. Objects found within the post-holes date to around the 13th century, suggesting that the hall had essentially ceased to exist by this time, although it is also possible that this is when the hall was built and the objects fell into the holes at the time of their construction. In either case, such halls were generally built around the 12th to 13th centuries and the archaeologists seem confident the hall did not exist into the 15th century.
Within the post-holes and in the surrounding area, a few medieval objects - including iron arrowheads - have been discovered.
Then there is a gap in the archaeological record. The oldest existant building still in use in Mellor today dates from the middle of the 17th century. Furthermore, as the hall now resided on the old settlement, it is unclear where the bulk of the population had moved to.
By the time of the English Civil War, Marple had become totally dominant in the region. So much so that the Lord of Marple Hall was the first to sign the death warrant of King Charles I.
[edit] Discoveries in the Field
[edit] The Mellor Pot
Most of the archaeologists' finds are from the Iron Age, including a nearly-complete clay pot fashioned using a unique design and method. It is worth noting, at this point, that it is conventional in archaeology to name items after the location they were first discovered in. The discovery of the unique pottery has earned Mellor the title of a "Named Site" and future finds of pottery of that specific type will be referred to as Mellor pottery.
[edit] Other Finds
Other finds, so far, include iron arrowheads from the 13th or 14th century, Roman coins and brooches, fragments of pottery and mesolithic flints - including an axe head and a very nice flint dagger. Because there is a lot of charcoal present in the soil at the site being investigated, many of the fragments and items can be dated with considerable accuracy using carbon-14 dating. The flints, in particular, are of great interest to the archaeologists as they appear to be from around Scarborough - 120 miles away. This suggests there may have been extensive trade in mesolithic times over significant distances.
[edit] Curiosities
[edit] The Stone Heads
These strange figures can be found above the doorways of some of the older buildings. They are strongly remeniscent of the "severed head" figures that can be found in Yorkshire and elsewhere. The figures in other parts of the country have been generally dated to pre-Roman Celtic Britain. There is no firm agreement as to whether the stone heads in Mellor are of this period or if they are a later reproduction - the Victorians, in particular, delighting in producing replica artifacts.
Celtic "severed heads" in their original setting are usually associated with water in some way - typically streams, springs and wells.
[edit] Sources
- Mellor Church and Mellor Hall
- Photographs of the dig at Mellor, and of the Saxon Font and Pulpit
- Archaeological Dig at Mellor Church's Old Vicarage
- Archaeology of Mellor
- Mellor Archaeology Group's Website
- Mesolithic Culture
- Images of artifacts discovered in Mellor
- Origin of the name "Mellor"
- Reconstruction of an Iron Age roundhouse
- Mellor Archaeological Trust's History of Mellor
- Yorkshire's Holy Wells and the Severed Head
- Harby Stone Head
- Early Aisled Buildings - What the hall in Mellor may have looked like
- Entry for Lodeuorde (Ludworth) in the Domesday Book
- Robin Hood and the Picking Rods
- Marple Bridge URC - Could this be built on top of an ancient Abbey?
- Mellor Church - Near the center of the Iron Age settlement and possibly the site of the Church of Hope
- Chemical analysis of crucibles and slag
