Between Peak and Plain: Excavations on a Multiperiod Site at Mellor, Stockport, 1998-2009

Between Peak and Plain, produced on behalf of the Mellor Archaeological Trust, presents the results of 12 seasons of community-based excavations carried out with the support of the former University of Manchester Archaeological Unit. Mellor is part of the metropolitan borough of Stockport in north-west England and lies in the foothills of the Peak District and southern Pennines. The excavations were centred on the Old Vicarage on a hilltop spur commanding extensive views westward over the Cheshire Plain. The investigations revealed a multiperiod site with evidence of activity from the Mesolithic to the post-medieval period. The principal remains were of the Iron Age and the medieval period. The Iron Age evidence included rock-cut ditches defining an inner enclosure and an extensive outer enclosure, ring-gullies, and linear gullies, with elements of material culture which included a regionally significant assemblage of pottery. The main medieval remains were the post pits of an aisled hall, which from historical evidence probably belonged to a forester of the royal hunting preserve of Peak Forest. The site also produced lithics of the Earlier and Later Mesolithic, a smaller Late Neolithic-Early Bronze Age group which included a flint dagger and polished flint chisel, and an assemblage of pottery and other artefacts demonstrating Romano-British occupation. Radiocarbon dating points to activity in the early medieval period. From the post-medieval period the site produced an important assemblage of clay tobacco pipes. Findings from the excavations are considered in this volume within their wider regional context.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1: Introduction – Peter Arrowsmith Chapter 2: Methodology – Peter Arrowsmith and John Roberts Chapter 3: The excavation – Peter Arrowsmith, Graham Eyre-Morgan, Stuart Holden, Peter Noble and John Roberts Chapter 4: Lithic assemblage – A.M. Myers Chapter 5: Prehistoric pottery – Christopher Cumberpatch with a contribution by Robert A. Ixer Chapter 6: Romano-British coarse pottery – R.S. Leary Chapter 7: Samian ware – Margaret Ward Chapter 8: Medieval pottery – Christopher Cumberpatch with a contribution by Jane Young Chapter 9: Cheshire briquetage – Elaine L. Morris Chapter 10: Fired clay material – Elaine L. Morris Chapter 11: Roman coins – David Shotter Chapter 12: Metalwork – Christine Howard-Davis with contributions by Nick Herepath Chapter 13: Medieval arrowheads – Geoff Gaunt and Sonia O’Connor Chapter 14: Stone objects – John Cruse, Graham Eyre-Morgan and Peter Noble Chapter 15: Oil shale and related material – Fraser Hunter Chapter 16: Glass objects – Christine Howard-Davis with a contribution by Harriet Foster Chapter 17: Metallurgical analysis – Roger C.P. Doonan and Heather Greybull with a contribution by David Dungworth Chapter 18: Palaeoenvironmental material – Charlotte O’Brien, Tim Mighall, Helen Ranner and Lorne Elliott Chapter 19: Conclusion: the site in context – Peter Arrowsmith, A.M. Myers and Peter Noble Appendix 1: Medieval Mellor and Peak Forest – Peter Arrowsmith Appendix 2: The later history of the site – John W.S. Hearle Appendix 3: Clay tobacco pipes – David A. Higgins Bibliography

About the Author :
Peter Arrowsmith is a former deputy director of the University of Manchester Archaeological Unit. He holds a MA from the University of Oxford and PhD from the University of Manchester.