The Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society, of which I am currently President, are holding their annual conference on 11th May 2024. The theme this is new research and with a focus on local history, family history and archaeology. It will be held at the friend’s Meeting House, Mount Street, Manchester, M2 5NS from 10am to 3pm. Canal barge during excavation at Richard Street, Rochdale. The programme is as follows: 9.30 Registration 10.00 – 10.40 Ian Mitchell. Mantles and Myths: Browns of Chester c.1780-2021 Tracing its origins to the 1780s, Browns of Chester had by the late nineteenth cent ..read more

In February 2024 Historic England’s released a ‘Heritage Asset’ guide dealing with the above and below ground archaeology of the industrial textile mill: from spinning and integrated mills, to weaving sheds, and the power plants needed to run these sites. The textile mill is one of the iconic monuments of industrialization, spurring the growth of cities, dedicated mill communities, and global trading routes in cotton, jute, linen, silk, wool, and artificial fibres. Along with TICCIH’s 2022 global thematic study of the heritage of the textile industry mills, it provides a wide-ranging introduc ..read more

The Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, in partnership with Keele University, is pleased to announce a new PhD studentship funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. The PhD will explore the identity of Telford and the Ironbridge Gorge from the new town’s launch in 1968 up to the present day. The Deadline for applications is 20th March. The museums and heritage sites in the Ironbridge Gorge are best known for their eighteenth- and nineteenth-century innovation, engineering and industrial history. However, there is also a more recent story of historical significance to be told: of post-war ..read more

Readers of this blog will be aware that I am currently the President of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society (LCAS). Founded in 1883, the Society promotes research and interest in the archaeology and history of the region. Following the 140th Anniversary year of the Society in 2023, LCAS have set up an annual research grant worth up to £1000 to support anyone undertaking a research project related to the old counties of Lancashire and Cheshire, including Greater Manchester and Merseyside. The research should come under one of the following headings which match the interests of the ..read more

Altrincham Court Leet, Hilary Assizes, Altrincham Town Hall, 13 January 2024. Copyright Dr Michael Nevell. It was my pleasure and honour to attend the Altrincham Court Leet Hilary Assizes in my capacity as Surveyor of Antiquities (and freeman) on January 13th 2024. I’ve mentioned elsewhere in this blog that I’m the first person to hold this position for the Court Leet. Whilst its a largely ceremonial office, it does provides an opportunity to look at how the historic buildings, landscape, and archaeology of Altrincham are changing in the 21st century, and to highlight some of the town’s most h ..read more

December 2023 sees the publication of my 53rd book, The Archaeology of Ironbridge Gorge in 20 Digs, by Amberley Publishing. It is more than 24 years since the last book on the archaeology of the Ironbridge Gorge in Shropshire, one of the cradles of industrialisation. Since the late 1990s our understanding of the impact of this area on global industrialisation, and the role of archaeology in understanding this, has changed considerably. High time for a fresh overview focussing on the archaeological exploration of this internationally recognised landscape. Over the last three years I have been ..read more

The Old Silk Mill, Derby, now the Museum of Making, January 2018 My interest in how Climate Change has and is affecting archaeological and heritage sites goes back many years. In the 2000s I was involved in excavating a later prehistoric and Roman village in the Trent Valley, Nottinghamshire, whose existence depended in large measure upon the annual inundation of the surrounding flood plain to refertilise the soils. I was also lucky enough to be involved with a European research project, STORM, during the mid-2010s, that looked at the potential for early warning systems and mitigation strategi ..read more

Since 2020, the Association for Industrial Archaeology (AIA) has been developing and running jointly with the Institute for Cultural Heritage and History of Science & Technology (USTB, China), a series of online industrial archaeology seminars. These are designed to bring together researchers to exchange ideas and knowledge among Western and Eastern colleagues to build a more international and diverse industrial archaeology. Previous seminars have brought together colleagues from Britain, Europe, China, India and south America. Pioneered by the AIA’s Young Members Board (an early career s ..read more

‘JACKFIELD ENCAUSTIC DECORATIVE TILE WORKS’, founded in 1874 by Craven Dunnill & Co. As the leaves drop, along with the daytime temperatures of late autumn, so some strange urban vistas in the form of faint letters and pictures are revealed on many urban structures. These reminders of past use, and long lost businesses and industries, are known as ghost signs. So what are ghost signs? Typically they are hand-painted advertising signs, old shop signs, or directions and warnings, preserved on buildings which have long since moved on from the use for which the signs were painted. They can be ..read more

Its that time of year again when archaeology professionals, academics, and volunteers come together to explore and celebrate the latest digs and research from across Greater Manchester, courtesy of GMAAS, the Greater Manchester Archaeology Federation, and the University of Salford. During the three years of the COVID pandemic, community archaeology and voluntary archaeology struggled, whilst developer-funded archaeology continued behind the fences and hoardings of construction sites. However, 2023 has been the first full year since the lock downs and restrictions of the pandemic were lifted ..read more