Kings of our castle

Castleshaw Centre manager Dave Faulconbridge with supporter Debbie Abrahams MP

A SADDLEWORTH group has been awarded £70,000 of Heritage Lottery funding for a project to research the area’s Roman history.

Friends of Castleshaw Roman Forts have been given the money for a new excavation of the site, which is classed as of national importance.

Old trenches in the northern half of the fort will be re-excavated in July.

Group chairman Colin Berry said: “It was a long process to get the funding. The cost of hiring people with the specialist knowledge we need is high - 20-30 people every day; even with this money we will be reliant on help from the community.”

The remains of Castleshaw Roman Fort date back to the late first century AD and the trenches were originally dug during 1907.

In the early 1960s, an excavation within the fort revealed a pit full of prehistoric beaker pottery dating back to the early Bronze Age.

Mr Berry added: “There are a few main areas we want to look at — the roads, both forts and the civilian area. But we’re mainly looking to understand the older and bigger fort through this excavation.”