Just to the west of this city, near Ringinglow, I observed a couple of mysterious features in Ordnance Survey mapping. Bang in the middle of this snipped map there's a double banked channel and at its western end a curious circular feature. There is no suggestion in the map that this channel was connected with natural drainage from the moor.
I went to investigate and came away not much the wiser. It was hard to tell if the marked channel was connected with water. Perhaps it was a roadway. When it was constructed I have no idea. Perhaps it is ancient or it could simply have been made during the eighteenth century in connection with a big stone quarry that sits to the left. Can you see the "...ries"? It's the end of "Brown Edge Stone Quarries".
This quarry was for the extraction and shaping of stone roof tiles which were used widely in the region before much lighter and thinner Welsh slates were imported. At Brown Edge there was a big and uncommon outcrop of layered gritstone - perfect for roofing.
When researching the double-banked channel I thought it might have simply been a lane from the quarries but there's no reason why it should have been sunk into the landscape - no doubt after countless man hours of earth movement and digging. I am really none the wiser but I judge that the hollow was once a pond because of a small conduit that cuts into the moorland depression.
History can be so slippery and in this instance I am not hopeful that any archaeological work has ever been undertaken to answer my questions. I will keep looking.
Sorry if you found this blogpost tedious.
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| Circular hollow shown on the map with Brown Edge Farm beyond |
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| The banked channel feature to the east |
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| The banked channel feature to the west near the circular hollow |
Well you're dealing with a mystery and we won't know what's going on unless we get all the details.
ReplyDeleteBut where will I find all the details?
Deletetedious?
ReplyDeleteI wouldnt be bothered trying to research this but you can bet I'd be interested in the answer.
You do you
Unfortunately, I do not move in archaeological circles.
DeleteIs there no government authority you could ask (if "they" aren't all furloughed right now)? Back in the day I worked for local government, I could call my county and speak to the department in charge of maps and learn all the numbers of new taxable lots cut into a subdivision, for example.
ReplyDeleteThere must truly be someone to ask and you mostly need a lined pad and the ability to keep digging and taking notes and getting phone numbers. It can be fun. Someone knows the answer.
Perhaps the Archaeology department at The University of Sheffield could help but when I got no response when I informed them about a potential Bronze Age tomb I stumbled across a couple of years ago.
DeleteYou didn't harass them enough. Very politely.
DeleteYou can be my harassing tutor Joanne.
DeleteThat is an interesting section of land. If you are comparing the map to it I would wonder when that map was made and also if any work had been done that could change the surface of the ground in that area. Are you able to access older maps anywhere? I love looking at older maps and seeing how things have changed over the years. Also have you looked at that section of land on Google Earth? Google often gives you different ways to study the land. No, of course I'm not a map nut.
ReplyDeleteI have had a good look at the features via Google Earth but aerial imagery doesn't tell the whole story. To the east of the features there are some sheep pastures as you can see in the map. They would have been carved out of the moorland. Could it be that farmers of long ago found walling stones in the long "channel"? I have never heard of such a thing before.
DeleteCould it be a Marl pit? Years ago farmers use to dig it and put it out on the land.
ReplyDeleteMarl is not present in the area Northsider but a thoughtful suggestion nonetheless.
DeleteInteresting. I wonder if it was some type of early quarry. Do you have a local historical association, or some regional historical authority that could explain it? And who makes the ordnance survey maps, anyway? Would they know?
ReplyDeleteThe Ordnance Survey makes ordnance survey maps Steve. I am pretty sure that they do not have such a Q&A service for the public. We do have local history groups and I have searched in their forums but have found nothing.
DeleteI had no idea Ordnance Survey was a government agency! I thought it was simply a brand name, like Rand-McNally. The things I learn from blogging...
DeleteStrange. It's very dry at present. Could it fill with water in wetter weather? Although that then might be shown as water on the map.
ReplyDeleteIt is totally dry in that "channel". No sign of any winter water flows. Remember how wet February was? On that moor rain water tends to soak in and then shallow rivulets emerge in the lower sections. No this is something different - either ancient or connected with the quarry and then forgotten about.
DeleteLooking at the satellite image (search for Ringinglow Lane) it seems possible it could have been an East-West route between the quarries and Fulwood Lane. Does it cut through contours - e.g. a trackway for the stone?
DeleteI thought of that too Professor Tasker. In fact, I expected that my moorland ramble would confirm just that but having been there and seen how it looks on the ground I am now unconvinced.
DeleteVery intriguing. Over here we would be able to go to our Land Registry & Planning Department to enquire about such features. Does your local equivalent offer the same service?
ReplyDeleteOnly in relation to construction etc within areas of human settlement.
DeleteA mystery! Perhaps it was...aliens!
ReplyDeleteMaybe the same ones who created The Grand Canyon.
DeleteWell you could dig around in the Pastscape search...https://www.pastscape.org.uk/
ReplyDeleteLooks a bit like a dyke/ditch but I have seen simple railways from quarried sites. Ask why a pond was needed?
Thank you for those tips Thelma. I know that you have much experience in looking at the history of our landscape.
DeleteUFO crash site maybe. Who knows?
ReplyDeleteThe Aliens Know!
DeleteOne person's tedious is another person's mystery.
ReplyDeleteI hope you'll dig into this mystery for us, and share the answer with us. Perhaps you could get down and dirty:)
Hey, I'm not going to no night club baby!
DeleteThis is way above my pay grade, but I wish you luck in finding an answer.
ReplyDeleteWhat is your pay grade Jenny? I am guessing 80 Canadian dollars an hour.
DeleteCan't help you. Maybe if I was a geologist instead of an anthropologist! But at least I now know what marl is.
ReplyDeleteBig sisters are meant to help with one's homework!
DeleteDiamonds :-P
ReplyDeleteMmmm...interesting theory.
DeleteThis is intriguing! What about the nearest farms? Would the farmers know something about it, maybe even only through stories passed on from one generation of farmers to the next?
ReplyDeleteOne of the farms on the map is a working sheep farm. The other is not a proper farm any more - just a residential property. But it's a constructive notion. Thanks.
DeleteWhy would any road/railway be so deep and narrow? Seems unlikely. It could be the ditch half of a ha-ha (just joking). A trench left over from the Wards of the Roses is unlikely given that it preceded trench warfare. In truth after thinking for a while I can be of no help whatsoever.
ReplyDeleteWhat a mystery. It's hard to imagine that anyone would dig a road or railway down into the ground, not unless you want to travel through a mud bath! More likely that a roadway would be banked up. Can any local archaeology groups shed any light on it?
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