race back in time ARCHAEOLOGISTS have begun excavating a mediaeval site at Horwich before the bulldozers move in to make way for a new road which will service the proposed sports village. The team from the University of Manchester's Archaeological Unit started work last week and have been given three weeks to complete their studies on the Sefton Fold Farm site. Mr Norman Redhead, Site and Monuments Officer for the unit, said it is a moated site of late mediaeval origins.

The former timber-framed building, which dated from 1666, was completely surveyed in 1992, but it is thought that there may have been some older buildings on the site.

So far, the plot has been machine-stripped, revealing two levels. The lower, which shows a large ditch, is thought to have been a moat or large pond, although at this early stage it cannot be proved.

A team of six is currently working on site led by Phil Wilson. "Within the farmhouse itself we found an internal wall which looks as if it has been an external wall, leading us to believe that there may have been an even earlier building on the site," said Phil.

"We've also found some pottery outside which we think dates back to the late 1500s or early 1600s." Phil said the next task was to dig around the old wall to see if they could find the foundations of the earlier buildings.

Once the developers move on to the land, the historic site will be partly covered by a large roundabout.

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