Images courtesy of:Cheshire County Council

Chester City Council Archaeological ServiceEnglish Heritage Photographic Library

The Grosvenor Museum, Chester City CouncilIllustrations by Dai Owen

Ordnance Survey Statement of PurposeThe Ordnance Survey mapping within thisdocument is provided by Cheshire CountyCouncil under licence from the Ordnance

Survey. It is intended to show the distributionof archaeological sites in order to fulfil its

public function to make available Council heldpublic domain information. Persons viewing

this mapping should contact Ordnance SurveyCopyright for advice where they wish to

licence Ordnance Survey mapping/map datafor their own use. The OS web site can be

found at www.ordsvy.gov.uk

4

Manors, Moats andMonasteries

Manors, Moats andMonasteries

Medieval

Images courtesy of:British Wool Marketing Board

Cheshire County CouncilEnglish Heritage Photographic Library

The Grosvenor Museum, Chester City CouncilMacclesfield Museums Trust

The Salt Museum, NorthwichUniversity of Manchester Archaeological Unit

Illustrations by Dai Owen

Ordnance Survey Statement of PurposeThe Ordnance Survey mapping within thisdocument is provided by Cheshire CountyCouncil under licence from the Ordnance

Survey. It is intended to show the distributionof archaeological sites in order to fulfil its

public function to make available Council heldpublic domain information. Persons viewing

this mapping should contact Ordnance SurveyCopyright for advice where they wish to

licence Ordnance Survey mapping/map datafor their own use. The OS web site can be

found at www.ordsvy.gov.uk

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50,000-2,350BC

Stone AgeBefore metalwas discovered,people madetools out ofstone. Theyneeded tools tobuild sheltersand hunt forfood.

2,350-800BC

Bronze Age When metalwas discoveredpeople couldmake bettertools.

800BC-43AD

Iron Age People lived inroundhousesand kept sheep,cows and pigs.They even hadjewellery in theshape ofanimals!

43-410

The Romans The RomanArmy invadedBritain in 43ADand built roadsand forts. Thishelmet musthave been lostby a soldier.

410-1066

Saxons &VikingsAfter the Romansleft, the Anglo-Saxons invaded,settled and livedin peace. InCheshire theymade stonecrosses withbeautiful carvings.

The Vikingsraided Britain tolook for treasureand new land.The Saxons builtdefendedsettlements tohold them back.

1066-1485

Medieval Cheshire In 1066 theNormansinvaded Britain.They builtcastles inCheshire tomake sure theykept control.

Hundreds ofyears later, thefamilies of theseNorman lordsbuilt timberhouses insidemoats, to showhow rich theywere.

1485-1603

The Tudors Later, richTudors turnedthese plaintimber housesinto muchgrander homeswith lots ofdecoration onthe outside.

1837-1901

TheVictorians Silk thread fromChina and Italywas made intocloth inMacclesfield andCongleton.Everyone workedin the mills, evenchildren.

Woven silkLittle MoretonHall

Saxon crosses,Sandbach

Roman Helmetfrom Northwich

Iron Age bull’shead

Bronze Age axe head

Stone Age axe head

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Beeston Castle

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A new house is being built so nobody wants to live in the old one. It isfalling down.

The old house has disappeared but you can still see the place where itused to be

Archaeology is about finding outhow people lived in the past,through the things they have leftbehind.

����� ���������������� ��They look for clues (evidence)that show where people lived andwhat their homes were like. Theyalso want to know what foodpeople used to eat and whatthings they made.

�����!��������When people have lived in aplace, they leave behind cluesthat show what they have beendoing.

Buildings, or objects like pottery, coins and jewellery cangive information about howpeople lived. You can tell whatpeople ate by looking at bones,shells and seeds in rubbish

dumps. Some things last better than others. Cloth, wood and leather can rot awayand metal can go rusty. Stone,pottery and brick are difficult to destroy.

"��#� ���������� ��Sometimes you can still see theplaces and buildings wherepeople used to live. Thesebuildings can be hundreds of

years old. They have been lookedafter and repaired.

Sometimes the stone and brickfrom old buildings was used fornew buildings. Recycling is not anew idea!

Buildings will fall down if they arenot looked after. The place wherepeople used to live will be buriedunder the soil.

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Crops do not grow wellover this buried wall. Thecrops are thin and willgrow quickly and go yellowin hot weather.

Crops grow well over thisditch. The crops are strongand will grow slowly andstay green for longer.

Left: Aerial photographshowing cropmarks

Archaeologists find buried sitesin lots of different ways.

DocumentsBooks, maps and old papers cansometimes show if people oncelived in a place.

Field WalkingAfter a farmer has ploughed afield, archaeologists sometimeswalk over it to look for objectsthat the plough has brought tothe surface.

Aerial PhotographyArchaeologistssometimes takephotographsfrom a plane, ofcrops growing in fields. Buriedsites show up as differentcolouredpatterns in the fields.

ExcavationSometimes archaeologists dig away thesoil that covers a buried site. They callthis an excavation or “dig”.

Archaeologists only dig in the groundif they think a place might have someimportant archaeology buried.

Recording the EvidenceArchaeologists make notes about whatthey find. They also make drawingsand take photographs. After the “dig”, a report is written to show what has been found.

During the Iron Age people lived inthe countryside. In Cheshire therewere no towns or cities. Everyonehad to find their own food sopeople had their own farms.

1. Woollen clothes like this weremade at home. They could be dyeddifferent colours using plants andberries.

2. Wheat, barley and oats were storedin large pits in the ground, until itwas needed.

3. The grain was ground betweentwo large round stones, called ahand quern.

4. Sheep did not have thick wool coats. They were similar to Soay sheep, which live on islands in Scotland.

5. Tools were made from iron. Iron is a very strong metal and makes good tools.

6. People lived in round houses,which they built themselves. The walls were made by weaving thinbranches around the wooden stakes.

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Can you find...

• Some cows? They were very different tothe ones you see today. They were skinnyand much smaller.

• A dog? They were used for hunting andalso helped to protect the farm animals.

7. The wooden walls were covered in daub to keep thewind and rain out. It was a smelly job. Daub was madeout of mud, straw and animal dung!

8. The roof was made out of bundles of straw. There wasno chimney. Smoke escaped through tiny gaps betweenthe straw.

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A buried site from Roman timeshas been found in Nantwich. Theclues show that people weremaking salt here.

Can you find...

• A bronze saucepan? Ones like this were used to cook with.

• A pottery bowl? This one was made in France. It would have cost a lot of money.

Found byarchaeologistsin Nantwich

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A buried site from Roman times hasbeen found in Nantwich. The cluesshow that people were making salthere.

1. The salty water (brine) came fromsprings in the ground and was storedin big pits. The inside of the pit wascovered in clay to stop the brinesoaking away.

2. The end of this pit has collapsed. Anew wall is being made out of wood.

3. The brine was boiled in lead pansto make salt. When the water turnedto steam, the salt crystals were leftbehind.

4. The Roman army built roads soit was easier to travel. The roadswere very straight. The army hadforts at Northwich, Middlewichand Chester.

5. This road is being repaired. Theroads were made out of rock,pebbles, sand and clay. Ditchescarried away the water when itrained.

6. Roman law said people must be buried outside the towns andforts. People would visit the graves to make offerings of foodand drink.

Can you find...

• A quern stone? This stone was used to grind grain into flour

Explore the illustration on the previous page

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If you were rich in Tudor times,you would have had a house like this.

1. The house was made of timber cutfrom the woods.

2. The walls were made of wattle(thin branches woven aroundwooden stakes). They were coveredin daub and plaster. Mud, straw andanimal dung were used to makedaub.

3. The chimney was made out ofbrick or stone so it didn’t catch fire.

4. There is a moat around the houseto protect the house and animals.

5. The roads were narrow andbumpy. Most people walked or rodehorses. Travelling by cart was veryuncomfortable and slow.

6. It was difficult to keep food for along time without fridges or freezers.Fishponds were a good way of havinga fresh supply of food.

7. Poor people worked in the fields.The fields were divided into narrowstrips. Each strip was ploughed bysomeone different. The farmers hadto rent the land from the rich lords.

8. Watermills were used to grind corn into flour. Everyonehad to pay to have their corn ground. There werepunishments for those who tried to grind it at home.

Can you find...

• A church?• A kitchen garden where vegetables

and herbs were grown?• The barns where animals were kept?

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There are lots of museums, castles and oldhouses to visit in Cheshire. They show someof the objects that have been found byarchaeologists. Opening times vary. Pleasecheck before making a visit

�� ���� �3����0Market Square, Congleton, CW12 1ET. Tel:01260 276360 www.congletonmuseum.co.ukAdmission Charge

2���4����� ���3����027 Grosvenor Street, Chester, CH1 2DD. Tel: 01244 402008 www.grosvenormuseum.co.uk

5� �6����3����0Pillory Street, Nantwich, Cheshire, CW5 5BQ. Tel: 01270 627104www.nantwichmuseum.org.uk

5���� �������3����0�7�4���� �Tudor Road, Manor Park, Runcorn, Cheshire,WA7 1SX.Tel: 01928 569895www.nortonpriory.orgAdmission Charge

2���!����3����0�162 London Road, Northwich, CW9 8AB. Tel:01606 41331 www.saltmuseum.org.ukAdmission Charge

����� �� �3����0�7�����4������Bold Street, Warrington, WA1 1JG. Tel: 01925442392www.warrington.gov.uk/museum

For more museums near you visitwww.24hrmuseum.org.uk

Places to Visit

www.cheshire.gov.uk/archaeology