Coastal
& Marine Heritage and Archaeology Seminar
Saturday 21 May 2005
Over 90 people were present and Susannah
Bleakley, Morecambe Bay Partnership Officer and one of the organisers
said, “The meeting had a real energy, people have clearly enjoyed the
day and are expressing an enthusiasm to get on, do more and get
networking. It seems we have
inspired people
Richard
Newman, Cumbria’s County Archaeologist, and one of the speakers, said
“There is unanimous agreement from Saturday’s seminar to form a
network for progressing our knowledge of Morecambe Bay’s Coastal
Heritage & Archaeology.
Cumbria County Council will be pleased to be part of this and
support it.”
Richard
Newman addressed the seminar about the threats to our coastal heritage.
He highlighted features such as the Pepper Pot on the shore near
Jenny Browns Point, Silverdale. The shoreline here is currently eroding, which if it
continues, may threaten to undermine the structure itself. He also reflected on the predicament of a wharf and pier
structure on the coast between Bardsea and UIvertson. This feature is known about, but has not been adequately
studied or recorded and is highly vulnerable as it is in the inter-tidal
area. It is likely to
pre-date the mid Nineteenth Century.
The very dynamic nature of the inter-tidal area means that any
features that appear may be rapidly covered again, or quickly eroded.
Jack Manning spoke about the work of his Comp
Scar Research Group who have been making a record of the remains of a fish
trap on Cartmel Warf. No
definite age has been assigned to this feature, it might be relatively
modern, but is perhaps more likely to have been constructed when the
monasteries were powerful in the area.
Until scientific dating is done we cannot know.
The fish trap might be even older, as it has clear similarities to
one on the Severn Estuary which was radiocarbon dated as late Saxon.
Speakers
-
Barbara
Blatchford, Cumberland & Westmorland Antiquities &
Arch. Society
-
Susannah
Bleakley, Morecambe Bay Partnership
-
Dorothy
Bruns, Cumbria & Lancashire Finds Officer
-
Dave Coward, National
Trust Volunteer
-
Daniel Elsworth,
Morecambe
Bay Archaeological Society
-
Peter Iles, Lancashire County Archaeologist
-
Barry Kaye,
Kaye and Cook
-
Kendal
Metal Detectors Club
-
Jack Manning
-
Ged
McAllister, Lancaster City Council Engineers
-
Richard
Newman, Cumbria County Archaeologist
-
Sue Stallibrass,
English
Heritage
-
Lorraine Weeks,
Local Heritage Initiative
Sponsors
Arnside/Silverdale AONB,
Cumbria
County Council, English Heritage, Lancashire County Council
|
