Excavations at Dutton's Farm, Lathom, 2005-2006 - Page 2

The medieval period

There is no modern centre of settlement in Lathom that can be identified as being in existence in the late medieval period. With this in mind the last two season's work at Dutton's Farm are concentrated on the later medieval part of the site (1100-1400 AD). Whereas earlier excavations have attempted to understand the nature of the Iron Age and Roman settlement, the current work is intended to bridge the gap in the understanding of the period from c.400 AD to 1400 AD, or as it is otherwise known, the Lathom Dark Age !

The 2005–06 excavations followed on from an earlier programme of fieldwalking at Dutton's Farm in the field adjacent to the A5209 road between Burscough and Newburgh. It was thought that a series of medieval pottery scatters may represent occupation sites which could provide new insights into the more recent development of historic Lathom. One explanation for the pottery finds (rare in the north west) could be that there was a small, late medieval settlement or hamlet lying alongside the road that did not survive into the modern period.

The recent excavation project investigated whether the largest surface scatter of pottery, lying adjacent to a 13th century (or earlier) ford across the River Tawd, represents the site of a former medieval farm or other kind of settlement. The road also approximately marks the potential ancient boundary between the Dutton's Farm estate and the medieval deer park associated with Lathom House. The latter is the most important site in the township in the late medieval period because of its association with the nationally prominent Stanley family, so here is a chance to understand how the two estates co-existed.  In trying to do so, the origins of the Burscough-Newburgh road itself, which is assumed to be late medieval, if not earlier, might also be clarified.

The site has produced the largest amount of medieval pottery, numbering over 900 pieces so far, from a rural site in the region. Medieval rural sites are generally rare in Lancashire, and only two or three small sites have been excavated in Merseyside. The style of the pottery suggests that this site was probably in use up to about 1400 AD or slightly later, before being abandoned, as there is hardly any later pottery in this area. It seems, therefore, that the activity here had stopped by about that date. This may be of relevance in the future in trying to interpret the relationship between Dutton's Farm and Lathom House, as this was about the period when the park was expanding and a document of 1464 AD suggests it may even have grown to include the Dutton's Farm estate within the land use of Lathom’s deer parks.

Future work is also intended to clarify the origins of the late medieval settlement, if that is what it is. The excavations have produced a number of other features not associated with late medieval pottery and which, therefore, might be relevant to this aim. These include a small slightly irregular, rounded structure, a wide shallow gully and various short lengths of curving gully, some of which lie outside the area between the late medieval ditch and the road. These could be of any age from Iron Age to early medieval, prior to the inhabitants on the site starting to use pottery in about the 12th or 13th century AD.

Project Director: Ron Cowell, Curator Prehistoric Archaeology, National Museums Liverpool