Introduction
An account of the Antiquities found near Dove Point, on the Sea-Coast of Cheshire.
"The study of antiquity, like that of any other subject, has its infancy and youth before attaining its maturity: and in this case the maturity is comparatively recent. There are those still living, who have smiled at the conceits and mistakes of antiquaries, when conjecture was common, facts few, and principles but little understood, in the present day however, no vindication of pursuits is needed, especially of late, archaeology has become what geology and chronology was each said to be one of the eyes of history". So was the introduction by this learned Rev. Gentleman in the year 1863.
This Rev. Gentleman's use of classical English is a joy to read. He was referring to the times before 1863 and may have been almost writing about the science and the study of artifacts recovered by modern methods in the early years of metal detecting. So where do we start. It is about that part of the Cheshire coast an area of land of the north-western end of the peninsular of the Wirral, extending as far as Birkenhead on the one side and Thurstaston on the other, this is all we require to examine at present. A lot of 'conjecture' as he put it, was the way he described the early years of archaeology to identify objects of which a great deal of correction has since been made. We, working on the same plane can genuinely call ourselves amateur archaeologists and antiquarians as he found himself in his time, the difference being of course, that we are now over a century ahead and therefore have the benefit of more up to date information.
Those who are acquainted with Dove Point, I wish to mention in passing that this small area of ancient history lies to the extreme west of the Wirral Peninsular where Great Meols lies. Dove Point must have long been a halting place, and there, we are told, that in the seventeenth century the larger vessels discharged their cargo or part of it to enable the ships to sail over the flats into the new port of Liverpool. This would account for the fact that Meols (pronounced Mells) being mentioned as a port. Passing towards the river Dee by the lighthouse would bring you to Dove Spit. By the formation of the surface suggests at one time it was connected to the bank beyond, which is called Hole Bank.
The whole surface at that time between the sand hills and the water was a mass of turf bog and the local name was given as 'the black earth'. In 1615, a one William Webb spoke of mosses that yield turfs, had this to say:
"In these mosses, especially in the black, are fur trees found underground,
in some places six feet deep or more, and in others not one foot, which trees
are of surprising length and straight, having certain small branches like boughs, etc."
He goes on to say that there is no record that any trees grew there, yet here was evidence of a forest extending beyond the present day shore line we know today. As there is no place in the Wirral where such a phenomena exists except at and near Dove Point. It seems clear he was referring to the 'Submarine Forest' or to the tree stumps that were known as "Meols Stocks" and it look likely that in the early part of the seventeenth century the remains of trees existed in great numbers. In his topography of the district between March 1850 and July 1857 Hume kept an account in a diary which describes what the condition was like at that time. He wrote: "The various strata are visible seaward, each upper one gradually disappearing as first the sand and upper surface extend thirty yards toward the tide, second, the black earth fifty yards further, containing 538 stumps of trees, third, the lowest margin noticeable, is 40 yards further or nearly 200 yards in a direct line to seaward.
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