Lindow Moss
Lindow Moss, also known as Saltersley Common, is a raised mire
The peat bog was formed in a collection of hollows left by melting ice at the end of the last ice age. It is believed to have been a site of religious significance to the ancient Celts.[1] The first written record of Lindow Moss was in 1421 when the lord of Mobberley and Wilmslow allowed people to dig peat from the mossland for use as fuel.[2] It originally covered over 600 hectares (1,500 acres), but has since shrunk to a tenth of its original size. The bog can be a dangerous place; an 18th-century writer recorded people drowning there.[3]
For centuries, peat from the bog was used as fuel. It continues to be extracted but now for mixing within compost products. The process is now mechanised with a mechanical digger.
The site is known for its flora and fauna such as hare's-tail cottongrass, common cottongrass[4] and green hairstreak butterfly. It also has been a habitat for water voles although their continued existence is threatened by sinking water levels. The Saltersley Common Preservation Society promotes the preservation of the moss.[5] In November 2011, they teamed up with a local amateur filmmaker to produce a short video detailing the history of the bog and some of the threats it faces.[6]
See also
- Lindow Common – adjacent SSSI
Notes
- ^ "Lindow Man: Gruesome discovery who became 'international celebrity'". BBC News. 2 August 2014. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
- ^ Turner 1995, p. 10.
- ^ Brothwell 1986, p. 13.
- ^ "Lindow Common SSSI" (PDF). Natural England. 1979. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
- ^ Reeves, Lisa (3 November 2009), Online fight to save peat bog, wilmslow.co.uk, retrieved 26 December 2010
- ^ Reeves, Lisa (24 November 2011), Movie highlights threat to Lindow Moss, wilmslow.co.uk, retrieved 24 November 2011
References
- ISBN 0-7141-1384-0
- Turner, R. C. (1995), "Discoveries and Excavations at Lindow Moss 1983–8", Bog Bodies: New Discoveries and New Perspectives, British Museum Press, pp. 10–18, ISBN 0-7141-2305-6
Further reading
- Norbury, W.H. 1884. Lindow Common as a Peat Bog: Its Age and its People. Transactions of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society, 2: 61–75.
- Lindow and the Bog Warriors, Hyde and Pemberton (Rex Publishing 2002)