[Excerpt from Stockport Times - 3/8/06]
The recent drought has revealed an ancient ditch of a hill fort for the first time in 11 years. Ann Hearle, of the Mellor Archaeological Trust, said: "This ditch has not been seen for more than a decade, so it's very interesting for us."
The original pictures form the drought of 1995 led to excavations near Mellor Church and in the Old Vicarage garden. These were started in 1998 by the University of Manchester Archeology Unit and have continued each year since then.
In addition to the outer ditch, the excavations have uncovered a deep inner ditch, roundhouse gullies and adjacent 'yards'.
The digs have also harvested artefacts from periods including, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Romano-British and Medieval.
The new trenches can be viewed at the open days on September 2 and 3, when the Parish Centre will display the story of the Mellor hilltop.
[Many of the Mellor finds are on display in the Stockport Gallery, Staircase House, Marketplace.]
