Cheadle Archaeological dig (September 2010)

  

                                          

In September 2010, the Cheadle Civic Society helped to arrange and fund a major archaeological dig at the back of Cheadle Green which helped to excavate the foundations of the old Cheadle Hall -a large residential building which had stood at the back of the green for more than 200 years until it was demolished in the late 1950s.  

Cheadle Hall as it appeared in c1910

 

The Society brought together the Greater Manchester Archaeological Unit, led by County Archaeologist Norman Redhead, the Centre for Applied Archaeology at the University of Salford, the South Manchester Archaeological Research Trust and hundreds of local people in an unprecedented weekend of activities which provided a great insight into the history of Cheadle Hall.

The event was also attended by local councillors, Cheadle MP Mark Hunter and members of Cheadle Gatley Film Makers who produced a documentary video about the project.

 

For a pictorial record of the weekend events, see the images below.

 

Hundreds of local people attended the event and were fascinated by the amount of Cheadle history which was on display 

 

Manchester County Archaeologist Norman Redhead explains the purpose of the dig to local residents 

 

Once the layout of the old building was identified, the archaeologists began the excavation process by digging up the topsoil 

 

One of the archaeologists begins to reveal one of the many internal walls which were discovered 

 

The archaeologists used a range of dedicated tools to dig up the soil without damaging any of the building below  

 

One of the main discoveries was the bay window on the side south of Cheadle Hall which overlooked Stockport Road 

 

Many of the archaeologists gave guided tours of the site to local people explaining the excavation process 

 

Cheadle Civic Society Chairman Andrew Taylor (left) discusses the dig and other local issues with Cheadle MP Mark Hunter 

 

Dozens of local children came to the site and many spent several hours having their first experience of real-life archaeology 

 

A special two-colour archaeological measure denotes the depth the archaeologists managed to dig to during the excavation 

 

Many types of artefacts were discovered underground, especially old tiles, brickwork and pottery 

 

Many of the individual historic artefacts which were discovered were then thoroughly cleaned for proper analysis

Click here to see a detailed academic report about the dig by the Centre for Applied Archaeology at the University of Salford

Watch an excellent 20 minute video of the dig made by Cheadle and Gatley Film Makers