Register here - as a registered user you get more features and fewer ads.
In 1975 the farmland on which a new village was to be built, close to Astley Hall, Chorley, was compulsory purchased. This farm known as Astley Farm, was a site which we had 'earmarked' for future investigation, when it became available.
Some ten years earlier at this farm, a tree had been uprooted to build a dutch barn on the site. As the roots were turned uppermost, pottery was found amongst them. That pottery was collected by the farmer, and boxed. Following the building of the barn, the pottery was suspected as being of Bronze Age period, some 2000 years B.C.
By 1975, that pottery found by the farmer had been reconstructed to positively identify the period it belonged to. Also with the farm now becoming available, permission to carry out further archaeological evaluation was agreed upon, this was to be done under the directorship Mr J. Hallam who was Archaeological Consultant for the CLD Corporation.
The Astley Farm site excavation was undertaken by the Chorley Society and the West Lancashire Archaeological Society, with assistance from the Lancashire Museums Service Centre in Preston, and Directed by John Hallam. It was undertaken over four phases.
Phase one in early 1975, was carried out following demolition of ancillary buildings at Astley Farm. The first task was to locate the tree stump overturned in the mid 1960's. This was done, and more pottery was found in the roots of the stump, which fitted into the part restored section of pot found previously. Along with this pottery, human cremated bones, a flint knife, and a flake of rock from the Lake District were found. All these had been associated with the original burial, the cremated bones having been originally inside the pot.
The pot itself, or more accurately a 'Collared Urn' was some 18 inches tall, and about 15 inches in diameter. It contained the remains of a female. During Phase one and two of the excavation, we discovered five more burials, all cremations, and all female. We also found another 'Collared Urn' in situ, with its bones still inside.
The site was almost surrounded by a ditch, but the causeway entrance to this special lowland burial site was not found, due to disturbance. Most other Bronze Age burial places are on higher land. Locally we have examples on the local high moorland to the east of Chorley.
Source: http://chorleyhistorysociety.co.uk/sys2013.htm
Something is not right. This message is just to keep things from messing up down the road