Open Days at Radcliffe Tower Big Dig

Did they find Radcliffe manor house and great hall?

All will be revealed on Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 November, when the Radcliffe Tower site will be open to the public to view what the five-week Big Dig has uncovered.

Local volunteers and experts from Salford University will be on hand between 10am and 4pm to explain the remains of 600 years of history. Finds such as glass and pottery will be displayed and, on the Saturday, the adjacent St Mary's Church will be open for refreshments and for viewing the work of Bury College students who have been producing art inspired by the site and the dig.

Councillor Joanne Columbine, deputy cabinet member for leisure, tourism and culture, visited the dig and met volunteer Ray Hulley, who lived on Bury Road in the 1960s and now lives in Hemel Hempstead. Ray heard about the dig and was keen to investigate one of his old haunts, and worked to uncover the cobbled courtyard of the 18th/19th Century Tower Farm.

Cllr Columbine said: “It's hard to imagine now, but the Manor of Radcliffe was for 500 years a powerful force in the region, the family also owning Ordsall Hall in Salford and Smithills in Bolton. The manor house and its great hall adjoined a fortified pele tower, the surviving ruin of which is believed to date from 1403. St Mary's Church and perhaps the nearby Tithe Barn were also associated with the Manor.

“I encourage everyone to come to the open days and see what we’ve managed to find out.” 

The dig and associated work has been made possible by a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The conclusions of the dig will, alongside public consultation, be used to inform the site's improvement and interpretation through follow-up work beginning in spring 2014.

For more information on the project, go to http://publish.mynewsdesk.com/uk/edit/www.radcliffeheritage.co.uk

ENDS

Press release issued: 5 November 2013.

Picture attached: Big Dig volunteer Ray Hulley and Cllr Joanne Columbine uncover the cobbled courtyard of the 18^th/19^th Century Tower Farm.