Dig unearths ancient settlement and Roman road
Submitted by vicky on Thursday, 16 October 2003 Page Views: 13482
Neolithic and Bronze AgeArchaeologists have unearthed evidence of a Roman road and Bronze Age settlement at a multi-million pound business and leisure park development. The dig at the 300-acre Gibfield Park site in Atherton has revealed fragmentary remains of the badly damaged road, which linked Roman forts at Manchester and Wigan.A 10-strong team of archaeologists from Manchester University spent the summer excavating the former site of Gadbury Fold, off Atherleigh Way. Their survey also revealed that mining had been carried out on the site since at least the 14th century.
Specialists will now study pottery and artefacts from the site and the finds will be donated to the town to add to its heritage.
The Gibfield Park Project to transform 300 acres of land -- the home of former open cast mining and the Gadbury Brickworks said to have lain in a derelict and in a dangerous condition for 60 years -- was launched this week.
Work has started to create a 200-acre country park with footpaths, bridleways, wildlife habitats and grazing land. The site will also include a 34-acre business park, 450 houses with a district centre, a road link and streamside nature walk.
Developers Black Country Properties funded the dig which began in August and revealed remains which include more than 700 years of continuous occupation, the Roman road and possible prehistoric remains.
The 30-day search uncovered a wealth of information that echoes the later industrial activity in and around Atherton and proves that people were mining the Gadbury Fold site from at least the 14th century, pushing the area's long tradition of coal mining back 300 years.
The archaeologists also discovered evidence of iron smelting in the 16th century.
Assistant county archaeologist for Greater Manchester, Norman Redhead, said: "If this ditch does date to the Bronze Age, it would mean there was human activity in the area 4,000 years ago."
Dig director Peter Connelly, said: "The existence of coal seams very close to the ground surface led the early pioneers of the coal mining industry to the area to carry out small-scale open-cast mining which shows the deep history of the mining tradition in Atherton."
Source: This is Bolton 10/10/2003
Note: Locals call for artefacts to go on display - see comment below.
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