User:Boatgypsy/Poulton Research Project

Poulton Research Project The Poulton Research Project is a charitable trust which was formed to enable the archaeological exploration of the ancient landscape surrounding the hamlet of Poulton in Cheshire.

History
Attention first turned to the archaeology of Poulton in 1995. Gerry and Richard Fair, landowners in Poulton had been finding dressed masonry, pottery and human bone in fields that they had plowed. This was brought to the attention of Chester Archaeological Society and Liverpool University who conducted an initial survey.

Historic mapping from the 16th century and up to the 1881 1:2500 Ordnance Survey map showed the site of a chapel.

Estate maps of the Grosvenor Estate, previous owners of the land, showed the surrounding field names to refer to a chapel. The nearest farm settlement bears the name Chapel House Farm.

Historic documents refer to the establishment of a Cistercian Abbey at Poulton in the 12th century, to the presence of the chapel and to the presence of an abbey grange.

Site Significance
Poulton is an especially significant site, both in the context of Cheshire, of England and internationally, because it has had continuous occupation from the mesolithic period through to the post-mediaeval, but without having fully developed into a modern period site, with the attendant destruction of archaeology that that would entail.

Post Mediaeval Period
The entire site at Poulton was brought into intensive cultivation in the post-mediaeval period as a result of the national economic situation. Evidence of early to mid-nineteenth century land drainage in the form of a criss-cross network of clay drain pipes has been uncovered.

Further nineteenth century finds have included pottery sherds and clay pipes of the period.

Saxon Period
Saxon pottery such as Chester Ware has been found on the site and in addition there is evidence of ridge and furrow ploughing dating to this period.

Iron Age Period
A number of iron age roundhouse structures have been found with substantial ditches. Excavation of Roundhouse III has produced over