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Sefton Coast Forum 2003Local History and Archaeology WorkshopTheme - Influence of Man on the Sefton CoastlinePresentations: Changing coast, resulting from:
- Natural processes Man has been present in the area for at least 5000 years and has affected the landscape through:
- increasing population size Prehistoric Period Sea level rose 60m in the Irish Sea (7000BC), leading to 5 major transgressions with flooding as far inland as Maghull and hence geo-archaeological evidence to be found on the existing mosses and arable land. Sediments deposited during the Neolithic (3000BC), contain animal imprints in the peat below the blown sand. The mosses would then have been largely carr-fen woodland - suitable habitat for the likes of red deer, auroch etc. The coast would have probably consisted of low dunes, fronted by intertidal lagoon and a series of islands which help to reduce wave energy leading to deposition of sand. Any animal footprints in the foreshore mud would have been baked in the hot sun before the next tide. Historic Period 500AD to present. Evidence of human impact from various sources. Fisheries:
- canoe recovered in 1899 from Crossens area dated to 500AD Enclosure: - evidence from 1300, construction of banks and ditches right up to present day with the construction of the new promenade at Southport. Dune Management:
- evidence from the mediaeval period onwards including purpose built warrens Urbanisation - again recent effects of housing and transport links. Drawing from 1716 of Great Crosby Shows zoning of land use parallel to the coast from the settlement to enclosed grazing to free grazing to warrening to maritime activities. Especially interesting is the use of the beach as a principal routeway. Archaeology and history within management frame work identify ----> understand ----> integrate ---->Shoreline management, tourism, nature conservation ----> MANAGE To help prevent loss of archaeological and historical material Coastal squeeze Today, 'coastal squeeze' is even more pronounced - with natural factors such as coastal erosion and man induced factors such as the pressures of landuse. Zoning still goes on with different land use needs - housing, transport routes, carparks, sand winning, coastal defence, military training, golf courses, nature conservation, fishing and recreation. The coast is a dynamic and complex system and taking consideration of historical evidence will help in making the right decisions in the future. Discussion: Crosby/Waterloo area is more ancient than people realise, as shown by evidence from prehistoric work on Ince Blundell and Little Crosby. Concern that a lot of concentration on Formby Point area. What happens if people discover new evidence on their land? Much data is accessible through the sites and monuments record at NMGM. Any new information needs to be fed into this. Mechanism to do this currently? Perhaps through local history societies. People would like to know who to contact. Human impact on salt marsh expansion at Marshside. Historical evidence of encouragement of salt marsh in last century and 1930's. Local landowners were anxious to extend the salt marsh as a barrier to the sea, for grazing and for development in the future. Cf. the resistance to this today - tourism. Impacts on planning - alternative use for Altcar Rifle Range or other sites if organisations funding ever removed. Local history groups tend to concentrate on small areas. There is not much study of themes across the coast eg. aviation, sandwinning, pine plantations. This could help get the different societies together. An integrated local approach to research might also help in getting funding. Overhead (conclusion): Influence of Man on the Coastline Evidence of anthropogenic influences for at least 5000 years
- Zoned use of coastline Role of the Partnership
- Reporting facility for finds
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