Smithills Hall is one of several medieval manor houses in Greater Manchester to be protected as a scheduled monument.
There are 37 scheduled monuments in Greater Manchester, a metropolitan county in North West England. In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a "nationally important" archaeological site or historic building that has been given protection against unauthorised change by being placed on a list (or "schedule") by the Secretary of State for Digital Culture, Media and Sport; Historic England recommends sites for scheduling to the Secretary of State.[1] Scheduled monuments are defined in the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 and the National Heritage Act 1983. There are nearly 20,000 entries on the schedule, which is maintained by Historic England as part of the National Heritage List for England; more than one site can be included in a single entry. While a scheduled monument can also be recognised as a listed building, Historic England's aim is to set the most appropriate form of protection in place for the building or site.[2] Applications to deschedule a site are administered Historic England, who will carry out an assessment and make a recommendation to the Secretary of State.[3]
The trend of military sites continues from the Iron Age into the Roman period; two Roman forts in Greater Manchester are scheduled monuments and were the two main areas of Roman activity in the county. Of the nine castles in Greater Manchester, four are scheduled monuments: Buckton Castle, Watch Hill Castle, Bury Castle, and Radcliffe Tower. The last two are fortified manor houses, and although defined as castles were not exclusively military in nature; they probably acted as the administrative centre of the manors they were in.[4] There are several other manor houses and country houses – some with moats – in the county that are protected as scheduled monuments. The Astley Green Colliery, the Marple Aqueduct, Oldknows Limekilns, and the Worsley Delph are scheduled relics of Greater Manchester's industrial history.
A Most references are to one main body of sources: Pastscape which is funded by English Heritage and has information on nearly 400,000 archaeological sites and buildings in England.
"The information on PastScape is derived from the National Monuments Record database which holds records on the architectural and archaeological heritage of England. The National Monuments Record is the public archive of English Heritage."[71]
B Nico Ditch is a linear earthwork that runs for about 6 miles (9.7 km) generally east to west. It forms part of the Manchester–Tameside border and the Manchester–Stockport border. It passes through Tameside and Manchester and extends into Trafford as far as Stretford. A 135 m (443 ft) long stretch of the ditch in Platt Fields is protected.[25][26]
References
^The Schedule of Monuments, Pastscape.org.uk, archived from the original on 23 February 2009, retrieved 4 February 2009
^"Scheduled Monuments | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
^"Scheduled Monuments | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
^Friar (2003), pp. 186–87.
^Historic England, "Ringley Old Bridge (44221)", Research records (formerly PastScape), retrieved 1 February 2009
^Historic England, "Affetside Cross (44366)", Research records (formerly PastScape), retrieved 30 December 2007
^Historic England, "Bury Castle (45189)", Research records (formerly PastScape), retrieved 4 February 2009
^Historic England, "Castlesteads (44369)", Research records (formerly PastScape), retrieved 30 December 2007
^Historic England, "Radcliffe Tower (44210)", Research records (formerly PastScape), retrieved 30 December 2007
^The parish of Radcliffe, A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 5 (1911), pp. 56–67. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=53000, retrieved on 25 October 2008
^Historic England, "Baguley Hall (76516)", Research records (formerly PastScape), retrieved 5 February 2009
^Baguley Hall, Hall Lane, English Heritage, retrieved 5 February 2009
^Historic England, "Peel Hall, Stockport (76845)", Research records (formerly PastScape), retrieved 5 February 2009
^Historic England, "Torkington Moat (78351)", Research records (formerly PastScape), retrieved 5 February 2009
^Nevell (1998), pp. 60–61, 63.
^P. Booth, M. Harrop & S. Harrop, The Extent of Longdendale, 1360, Cheshire Sheaf, 5th series, #83
^Grimsditch, Nevell, and Redhead (2007), pp. 5, 16.
^Grimsditch, Nevell & Nevell (2012), pp. 82–85.
^Historic England, "Monument No. 78454", Research records (formerly PastScape), retrieved 1 February 2009
^Historic England, "Watch Hill Castle (74893)", Research records (formerly PastScape), retrieved 30 December 2007
^Nevell (1997), pp. 27, 34.
^Historic England, "Astley Green Colliery (623407)", Research records (formerly PastScape), retrieved 5 February 2009
^Historic England, "Cross base at junction of Green Lane, Standish Wood Lane and Beech Walk, Standish (41980)", Research records (formerly PastScape), retrieved 5 February 2009
^Historic England, "Cross base on Green Lane, Standish (41983)", Research records (formerly PastScape), retrieved 5 February 2009
^Scheduled Ancient Monuments in Wigan, Wigan.gov.uk, archived from the original on 6 March 2007, retrieved 5 February 2009
^Newsletter #52, Wigan Archaeological Society, April 2002, retrieved 6 February 2009
^About PastScape, Pastscape.org.uk, retrieved 30 December 2007
Bibliography
Brennand, Mark, ed. (2006), The Archaeology of North West England, Council for Archaeology North West, ISSN 0962-4201
Cooper, Glynis (2003), Hidden Manchester, Breedon Books Publishing, ISBN 1-85983-401-9
Friar, Stephen (2003), The Sutton Companion to Castles, Stroud: Sutton Publishing, ISBN 978-0-7509-3994-2
Gregory, Richard, ed. (2007), Roman Manchester: The University of Manchester's Excavations within the Vicus 2001–5, Oxford: Oxbow Books, ISBN 978-1-84217-271-1
Grimsditch, Brian; Nevell, Mike; Redhead, Norman (September 2007), Buckton Castle: An Archaeological Evaluation of a Medieval Ringwork – an Interim Report, University of Manchester Archaeological Unit
Grimsditch, Brian; Nevell, Michael; Nevell, Richard (2012), Buckton Castle and the Castles of North West England, University of Salford Archaeological Monographs volume 2 and the Archaeology of Tameside volume 9, Centre for Applied Archaeology, School of the Built Environment, University of Salford, ISBN 978-0-9565947-2-3
Nevell, Mike (1992), Tameside Before 1066, Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council, ISBN 1-871324-07-6
Nevell, Mike and Redhead, Norman (eds) (2005), Mellor: Living on the Edge. A Regional Study of an Iron Age and Romano-British Upland Settlement, University of Manchester Archaeological Unit, Greater Manchester Archaeological Unit, and the Mellor Archaeological Trust, ISBN 0-9527813-6-0{{citation}}: |author= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Walker, John, ed. (1989), Castleshaw: The Archaeology of a Roman Fortlet, Greater Manchester Archaeological Unit, ISBN 0-946126-08-9
