Woodhouse Excavation - July 2009
Archaeological Evaluation Work at Woodhouse, Frodsham
The prehistoric hill top enclosure known as Woodhouse Hillfort, is a scheduled monument, SM 25694, and is therefore afforded statutory protection under The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. Archaeological evaluation work was undertaken during July 2009 to provide additional data in order to inform a strategy for the long-term management of the scheduled monument. The site is currently on the Heritage at Risk Register owing to inundation by birch woodland, rhododendron and bracken vegetation.
The work was undertaken by a team of local volunteers along with students from Liverpool and Chester Universities under the supervision of professional archaeologists directed by Dan Garner (Habitats and Hillforts Archaeological Project Officer). The work served to provide a training opportunity in archaeological excavation for a dozen undergraduate students and in excess of 30 local volunteers.
The work has helped to establish the present condition of the archaeological remains on Woodhouse Hill and this will help to inform future decisions about the management of the site.
We now have a far greater understanding about the construction of the rampart which will help to inform future interpretation of the monument.
An actual date for the construction of the rampart is still proving elusive; however, if the OSL dating technique cannot be applied to the samples taken then we can still consider less direct methods to arrive at an answer. This could take the form of palaeoenvironmental analysis on colluvial deposits around the base of the hill.
If dating the monument is proving difficult then this is nothing in comparison with the lack of evidence we have for its function or what the nature of the internal occupation might have been. It seems that Woodhouse will hang on to some of its secrets for a little longer yet …
The full report is available for download 'Full archaeological report for excavation at Woodhouse Hill during July 2009' (PDF, 1.5MB)
