LATEST NEWS

Royton Local History Society has joined the newly formed Greater Manchester Archaeology Foundation. Our Archaeology group known as 'Royton Lives Through the Ages' will represent the Society at Foundation meetings and events.

We are also taking part in the National programme to produce  local lists of sites of historic and/or archaeological importance. Members will be travelling through Royton nominating sites for inclusion to the list which is intended to catalogue properties to help local councils to judge whether or not a site should be redeveloped.
 

DVD RELEASE

Royton Local History Society has released another DVD.

This time it is about the 2007 excavation of Royton Hall.

This production describes how the memorial stone and blue plaque in Hall St. came into being, followed by a very brief description about the formation of Royton Local History Society and why the excavations came to be carried out in the first place. It also contains a short summary and selected clips from the first two digs by archaeologist Adam Thompson. Following on from this there is the launch of the free ‘green book’, which describes the first two years excavations in detail, and the unveiling of the interpretation board now situated next to the memorial stone in Hall St.

Moving on to the 2007 dig footage there is the site preparation, children digging, VIP and other visitors, a very interesting sequence about the ‘finds’, a detailed tour of the site by Adam, site photography and recording, the Open Weekend and finally, filling in the site. That should have been the end of the story, but in May 2008 the project won the Marsh Award for Community Archaeology so it was a ‘must’ that this should also be included.  The DVD finishes with Adam Thompson’s ‘Thank You’ piece for all the people involved with the excavations. From his point of view the support he received from the organisers and volunteers was quite outstanding and this is his way of acknowledging this.

All in all it took 9 months to complete DVD 3. Its running time is 82 minutes and at a purchase price of only £5 it is fantastic value for money. Copies of the DVD are available at Royton Library. If you have purchased the first two DVDs and are hesitant about buying DVD 3 please bear in mind that ALL the proceeds so far have gone towards funding the excavations, the interpretation board and producing the ‘green’ book and resource packs for local schools. At the time of writing  Royton Local History Society are hoping to fund a ‘Footprint’ of the Hall, marked out by paths and information boards, so that visitors can clearly see the size and layout of this once magnificent building.

The producer, Geoff Oliver, wishes to thank everyone who has humoured him and appeared or helped in the making of all three DVDs and Adam Thompson for his valuable time and inspired presentation of the facts. But most of all he wishes to thank Frances Stott for the photographs, information, ideas and her encouragement, support and patience during the making of these DVDs."