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Mellor Archaeological Project - Editorial
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Mellor Archaeological Project - Editorial
Location: Stockport
It was the sight of unusual markings in a garden lawn in Stockport, near Manchester, which led to the beginnings of the Mellor Archaeological Project.
What looked like an old track in the Old Vicarage’s garden in fact turned out to be a hilltop site which had been occupied in one form or another during the previous 10,000 years.
  About 50 pieces of an Iron Age pot were found in one pit.
Early excavations uncovered fragments of Roman pottery and roof tiles, fire-cracked pebbles and samples of very coarse pottery dating from the Iron Age.
 The oldest samples to be found included Mesolithic flints. Following a successful application for funding, the Mellor Archaeological Trust was able to shed new light on the remarkable finds, as well as make the findings of the site open to the wider public and local community.
During a series of open days, almost 1300 visitors to the site were treated to some of the most remarkable examples of Iron Age artefacts. About 50 pieces of an Iron Age pot were found in one excavation ditch, and this is being reconstructed.
 People took part in treasure hunts, and were able to view flint knapping demonstrations, besides examining the results of the excavations. Hundreds of booklets, produced by the Mellor Archaeological Trust, were sold, whilst many of the visitors enjoyed a personal tour around the site, led by archaeologists.
The project is now in its second phase; the newly refurbished Parish Centre houses display boards and a display case which will contain a selection of the Trust’s finds. There are also plans for geophysical surveys of the site, which will be used to help produce computer models of what the site would have once looked like.
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