£20,000 grant for further studies at a Peak District archaeology site of national importance

The money from Farming in Protected Landscapes has been awarded to the Tudor Farming Interpretation Group to undertake a detailed analysis of the pollen samples taken from the peat bog at Under Whitle in Longnor.

Lead archaeologist Ian Parker Heath said: “After we discovered a peat bog which showed rye was grown in this area in the 9th century we were so surprised as we didn’t know there was civilization here in this part of the Peak District at that time so this was big news.

“Samples will be taken from the bog and radiocarbon dated looking at natural and agricultural elements such as trees , crops and weeds and will give a more detailed view of the land at the time and who lived and worked on it.”

The Tudor Farming Interpretation Group began their search for what they believed to be the site of a medieval house back in 2015.

Since then they returned to the site in 2021 to continue looking for clues about medieval civilisation.

A new bog was discovered dating back 3,000 years and it provided a timeline of events which showed trees were felled and the crop rye was harvested on the land.

Dr Ian said there are historical and climatic changes they hope to uncover with the new samples taken from the bog.

“We know during the medieval period from around 800-1600AD there was a period of great change both culturally and climactically and the pollen record will be evidence of how local farmers responded to these challenges.

“They had everything from bad winters and famine to the black death during those times and looking at the samples from the bog will give us a better understanding of how these issues were dealt with.”

The grant will also enable more radiocarbon dating to be done which will give the group more secure dates for the samples and the times pan of the pollen samples so they will be able to break it down to decades rather than centuries.

Dr Ian said: “What we are doing here is so important not just for Peak District history but on a national level.

“This is the gold standard of geo-archeology and will show other digs up and down the country what can be done.

“Last year we didn’t know Saxons lived here so it will be really interesting to see what else we can learn from this testing.”

The grant is funded by the Dept of Environment, Food & Rural Affairs and is administered by the Peak District National Park Authority, work started last month and is expected to last until the summer.

There is currently an exhibition of the finds which have been unearthed from the dig at Under Whitle at the Nicholson Art Gallery in Leek until the the end of October.

It tells the story of the projects worked on and some of the itmes found - including an old Etch-a-Sketch!