As house prices in Cheshire rocket sky high, a very different des res has been constructed on the edge of the Peak district in Mellor. Students of archaeology from Ridge Danyers College in Marple spent the last few weeks of their Summer term building an Iron Age roundhouse. The students had been discussing experimental archaeology with lecturer Bob Dinn as part of their AS and A level courses, and decided to build the roundhouse to put their theoretical knowledge to the test. Bob, who teaches ancient history as well as archaeology, funded the building from EC Culture Programme Mnemosyne Project and brought  David Mason, who lectures in Performing Arts at South Trafford College, as site manager. David is an experienced Green wood' sculptor and was invaluable in helping to construct the initial wooden framework for the roundhouse using ancient building techniques.  Hazel posts were knocked into the ground at one metre intervals making a circle of approximately 15 feet diameter. Smaller posts were knocked in between to make infill easier with a gap of one metre left open for a door. A Wall plate was fixed to the uprights,  and  rafters then tied, tepee fashion, to make a roof. In the Iron Age, joints would have been pegged or tied with leather thongs, bramble, bark strip or linen cords. The 20th century version is held together with lashings of sisal twine. Concentric rings of hazel were laid over the rafters to make thatching purlins.
Youngsters, Alan Clark, Gemma Dawson, Holly Drinkwater, Andrew Dibbs, Colin Thomas and mature student Ann Hook were taught traditional building skills by craftsmen.  Geoff Norton from North Yorkshire arrived on site to teach hurdle making. Coppiced hazel was woven in and out of the upright posts to make a wattle wall which would be later covered in daub mixed from clay, straw, animal hair and dung. Next Geoff Robinson was called in to teach the students, and lecturers, how to thatch. Straw was laid onto the purlins and tied in place with sisal. Geoff also taught the students how to make their own tools; leggets to dress the straw into place and wooden needles to pass the twine from the outside to the inside of the roof.  A Celtic roundhouse would have been constructed in a couple of days as a joint effort by the whole community with skills learnt at a very early age and practised often. The small team working in Mellor took longer than that and had to learn from scratch but, despite working in wet and very muddy conditions,  became extremely adept in a short time. Their dedication and enthusiasm to work in waterproofs and wellies earned much praise from their teachers and proves that not all young people are either idle or joined at the hip to a computer or television!
The site of the roundhouse was chosen due to its specific historical importance and is located on an Iron Age hill fort discovered in the drought year of 1995 by local resident and historians, Ann and John Hearle. Ann, who lives at The Old Vicarage next to Mellor church, noticed yellow and brown patches on her lawn and though they might be footings of mediaeval buildings. Also noticed was a broad green band arching across Peter Hodgson's field to the north of the church which was thought to be an old track. In 1997, Peter Arrowsmith from the University of Manchester Archaeology Unit was writing about Stockport and consulted Ann on Mellor and Marple. A site visit convinced Peter the findings were very old, the unit field archaeologist, Graham Eyre-Morgan confirmed this view, and at Easter 1998 three students conducted a resistivity survey. Anomalies showed and trenches were dug that summer. The first trenches showed nothing conclusive, but as excavation continued Graham began jumping for joy. A defensive ditch appeared first, followed by roman pottery and roof tiles. Below that were fire-cracked pebbles and coarse Iron Age pottery. Excavations and surveys by the University of Manchester Archaeology Unit continued throughout 1999 and 2000 funded by grants from Stockport MBC and attracted much interest. Talks by Graham Eyre-Morgan to the Mellor Society and Marple Civic Trust drew record numbers and over 1000 people attended an Open Day in 1999. Funds raised from this and further Open Days have paid for magnetometry surveys and expert reports on finds. In April 2001 Mellor Archaeological Trust was awarded a grant of £13,500 from the Local Heritage Initiative to interpret the history of the site. This fund, administered by the countryside Agency, does not pay for archaeological excavations but is intended to foster involvement in local heritage. The building of the roundhouse is part of this community involvement and will now be looked after and used by Mellor Archaeological Trust for two years. The funding also paid for a computer survey and modelling of the hill top through the centuries and has supported geophysical work, public information boards, displays of artefacts and an information booklet.
There was an open weekend at Mellor on 7th and 8th September 2002. 1639 visitors viewed archaeological exhibits in the Parish Centre, including the Mellor vase , pottery fragments and a remarkable flint found this year . Colin Ralph's computer modelling of the vase and Iron Age reconstructions brought the past to life. Outside, visitors enjoyed guided tours led by volunteers from Mellor Archaeological Trust and various archaeologists involved in this year's six week dig. The eminent archaeologist Dr. John Smith Phd also visited the site. Evidence of substantial Iron Age and Roman buildings has been unearthed within the curtilage of The Old Vicarage adding to the already important previous discoveries and making Mellor the most important archaeological site in the North West of England. Having seen the bare bones of the past laid out , visitors were able to visit the thatched roundhouse in the field adjacent to the Old Vicarage and discover for themselves what living in the Iron Age may have been like. Geoff Norton, hurdler, Geoff Robinson, thatcher, and Andrew Dibbs, archaeology student, were on hand to answer questions and describe how the roundhouse was constructed. Visitors were able to map Peter Hodgson's field using geo-physics and children invited to search for Roman coins using metal detectors. Income from the Open Weekend will partially find this year's dig and provide ongoing information on Mellor. For more information contact: Roundhouse - Bob Dinn  - Ridge Danyers College, Buxton Lane, Marple, Stockport, Cheshire SK6 7PA. Mellor Archaeological Trust ­ John Hearle, The Old Vicarage, Mellor, Stockport ­ 0161 427 1149 Thatching - Geoff Robinson -  07780 862599. &   Hurdling ­ Geoff Norton ­ 01653 618892 This Article & photographs to illustrate.

© Josephine Dunn josephine.dunn@btopenworld.com

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