100-793: Chat Moss is a large area of peat bog that makes up part of the City of Salford , Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and Trafford in Greater Manchester , England. It also makes up part of Metropolitan Borough of St Helens in Merseyside and Warrington in Cheshire . North of the Manchester Ship Canal and River Mersey , 5 miles (8 km) to the west of Manchester , it occupies an area of about 10.6 square miles (27.5 km). As it might be recognised today, Chat Moss
200-636: A British settlement at the top of the hill (close to which "much Romaine mony is found"), the Saxon and medieval town further south, and a more recent riverside development at Wigford. He was able to judge that the existing fabric of Ripon Minster "indubitately was made sins the Conquest ". He correctly distinguished what he called "Briton brykes" (actually Roman bricks ) at several geographically dispersed sites, including Verulamium , Richborough , Lympne , Dover Castle , Canterbury , and Bewcastle . He
300-541: A European Union Special Area of Conservation , known as Manchester Mosses. Chat Moss threatened the completion of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway , until George Stephenson , with advice from East Anglian marshland specialist Robert Stannard, succeeded in constructing a railway line through it in 1829; his solution was to "float" the line on a bed of bound heather and branches topped with tar and covered with rubble stone. The M62 motorway , completed in 1976, crosses
400-456: A fen (or, on acidic substrates, valley bog), to a carr , as silt or peat accumulates within the lake. Eventually, peat builds up to a level where the land surface is too flat for ground or surface water to reach the center of the wetland. This part, therefore, becomes wholly rain-fed (ombrotrophic), and the resulting acidic conditions allow the development of bog (even if the substrate is non-acidic). The bog continues to form peat, and over time
500-470: A ritual killing rather than an accidental death, perhaps related to the Celtic cult of the severed head . The condition of the tooth pulp suggested that Worsley Man was 26–45 years old at the time of his death, which radiocarbon dating of a fragment of preserved soft tissue indicated was during the late Iron Age , sometime around 121 to 251 AD, identifying him as a Romano-British Celt . Worsley Man
600-714: A "nondescript landscape of stumpy trees and expanses of grass". The 40-square-metre (430 sq ft) artwork, painted on more than 100 ceiling tiles, was exhibited in November 2004 at the REDUX Gallery in London. Bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials – often mosses , typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands . Other names for bogs include mire , mosses, quagmire, and muskeg ; alkaline mires are called fens . A bayhead
700-497: A broad definition: Because all bogs have peat, they are a type of peatland. As a peat-producing ecosystem, they are also classified as mires , along with fens. Bogs differ from fens, in that fens receive water and nutrients from mineral-rich surface or groundwater, while bogs receive water and nutrients from precipitation. Because fens are supplied with mineral-rich water, they tend to range from slightly acidic to slightly basic, while bogs are always acidic because precipitation lacks
800-812: A butterfly called the bog copper ( Lycaena epixanthe ). In Ireland, the viviparous lizard , the only known reptile in the country, dwells in bogland. The United Kingdom in its Biodiversity Action Plan establishes bog habitats as a priority for conservation. Russia has a large reserve system in the West Siberian Lowland . The highest protected status occurs in Zapovedniks ( IUCN category IV); Gydansky and Yugansky are two prominent examples. Bogs are fragile ecosystems, and have been deteriorating quickly, as archaeologists and scientists have been recently finding. Bone material found in bogs has had accelerated deterioration from first analyses in
900-664: A few fragmentary notes survive. Leland kept notebooks on his travels, in which he entered and assessed information from personal observation, and from books, charters and oral sources. It is this material which we now know as his 'Itinerary'. In the 1906–10 edition, the Itinerary runs to five printed volumes. It comprises rough notes and very early drafts, the raw materials for a more digested description of England and Wales – Leland would not have envisaged publishing it in anything like its present form. The county on which he appears to have made greatest progress in organising his material
1000-400: A formal appointment as "king's antiquary": however, it is now understood to have been merely Leland's own preferred way of describing himself. There is no evidence that he personally oversaw the relocation of the books to their new home or received a librarian's wages. What he did do was to compile his lists of important volumes, and to take measures to encourage their preservation. Even after
1100-451: A hole worlde of thinges very memorable. He also described what use he intended to make of the information he had accumulated. He noted four projects: Of these projects, De uiris illustribus was already largely complete (it was written in two phases, in c. 1535 –36 and c. 1543 –46), but the others would never come to fruition. Polydore Vergil appears to have suggested that Leland had been unrealistically over-ambitious: he
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#17327757299271200-420: A mile of Mosley Haul, and destroied much grounde with mosse thereabout, and destroyed much fresh-water fishche thereabout, first corrupting with stinkinge water Glasebrooke, and so Glasebrooke carried stinkinge water and mosse into Mersey water, and Mersey corrupted carried the roulling mosse, part to the shores of Wales, part to the isle of Man, and some unto Ireland. Chat Moss presented a significant challenge to
1300-405: A movable light railway was developed. Narrow gauge track – which allowed the weight of the wagons to be spread evenly across an area of the bog – was temporarily laid down and then picked up and relaid elsewhere as needed. Roscoe was declared bankrupt in 1821, but the reclamation work continued under the stewardship of others who took over his leasehold interest, amongst them William Baines,
1400-534: A number of governmental and conservation agencies. They can provide habitat for mammals, such as caribou , moose , and beavers , as well as for species of nesting shorebirds, such as Siberian cranes and yellowlegs . Bogs contain species of vulnerable reptilians such as the bog turtle . Bogs even have distinctive insects; English bogs give a home to a yellow fly called the hairy canary fly ( Phaonia jaroschewskii ), and bogs in North America are habitat for
1500-476: A pseudonym for Vergil, was a type-name drawn from Juvenal for a wretched and dreary hack-poet.) He followed this with a longer published work, the Assertio inclytissimi Arturii regis Britannia (1544). In both texts, Leland drew on a wide range of literary, etymological, archaeological and oral sources to defend the historicity of Arthur. Although his central belief was flawed, his work preserved much evidence for
1600-527: A roothold. The result is a narrow, permanently wet habitat. After drying, peat is used as a fuel , and it has been used that way for centuries. More than 20% of home heat in Ireland comes from peat, and it is also used for fuel in Finland, Scotland, Germany, and Russia. Russia is the leading exporter of peat for fuel, at more than 90 million metric tons per year. Ireland's Bord na Móna ("peat board")
1700-491: A series of journeys which lasted six years. Probably over the summer of 1538 (though there may also have been earlier and/or later trips), he made an extended excursion through Wales. He subsequently made a number of journeys in England: the exact sequence and their dates are again uncertain, but there seem to have been five major English itineraries, taken over the summers of the years 1539 to 1543. His one firmly dated itinerary
1800-401: A severed head and called the police. It was initially believed that the head had been in the bog for less than a year, and so a search was conducted for more remains, but nothing was found. After X-rays and chemical tests, it was determined that the head had been in the bog for at least 100 years. An inquest was held into the man's death, at which the coroner returned an open verdict, and the head
1900-402: A shallow dome of bog peat develops into a raised bog. The dome is typically a few meters high in the center and is often surrounded by strips of fen or other wetland vegetation at the edges or along streamsides where groundwater can percolate into the wetland. The various types of raised bog may be divided into: In cool climates with consistently high rainfall (on more than c. 235 days a year),
2000-448: A useless production, 'tis hard to imagine; but the land is entirely waste, excep ... for the poor cottagers fuel, and the quantity used for that is very small. Peat bogs sometimes burst their boundaries, particularly after being subjected to heavy rainfall, and this seems to have happened with Chat Moss in the 16th century. John Leland , writing during the reign of King Henry VIII , described one such event: Chat Moss brast up within
2100-540: Is a lowland raised bog. In areas where drainage is poor, water-logging can slow down plant decomposition, producing peat , which over the years can raise the level of the bog above that of the surrounding land. The moss occupies an area of about 10.6 square miles (27.5 km), and is about 5 miles (8 km) long, about 2.5 miles (4.0 km) across at its widest point, lying 75 feet (23 m) above sea level. Chat Moss lies mainly in Salford , but extends into Wigan . By
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#17327757299272200-520: Is a new and authoritative edition (with English translation) of the work previously published by Hall as Commentarii de Scriptoribus Britannicis . This edition, based on Toulmin Smith's, rearranges Leland's topographical descriptions of England (with Wales added in the second edition) in county chapters, and renders them in modern English. It is less authoritative for scholarly purposes, but considerably more accessible and easier to navigate. It also corrects
2300-544: Is another type of bog found in the forest of the Gulf Coast states in the United States. They are often covered in heath or heather shrubs rooted in the sphagnum moss and peat. The gradual accumulation of decayed plant material in a bog functions as a carbon sink . Bogs occur where the water at the ground surface is acidic and low in nutrients. A bog usually is found at a freshwater soft spongy ground that
2400-400: Is made up of decayed plant matter which is known as peat. They are generally found in cooler northern climates and are formed in poorly draining lake basins. In contrast to fens , they derive most of their water from precipitation rather than mineral-rich ground or surface water. Water flowing out of bogs has a characteristic brown colour, which comes from dissolved peat tannins . In general,
2500-619: Is now in the care of the Manchester Museum . At 53°27′46″N 2°25′54″W / 53.46278°N 2.43167°W / 53.46278; -2.43167 (53.4629, -2.4316), Chat Moss lies at the southern edge of the Lancashire Plain, an area of Bunter sandstones overlaid with marls laid down during the Late Triassic period. Those rocks are themselves overlaid by a layer of boulder clay deposited during
2600-459: Is perhaps more likely that the name stems from the Celtic word ced , meaning wood. Chat Moss could also derive from Ceatta, an Old English personal name and mos , a swamp or alternatively the first element could be the Old English ceat meaning a piece of wet ground. It was recorded as Catemosse in 1277 and Chatmos in 1322. Moss is the local name for a peat bog. Daniel Defoe visited
2700-619: Is that of 1542, which took him to the West Country . By that date he had been on a tour to the north-west, which went via the Welsh marches to Cheshire , Lancashire and Cumberland ; while other itineraries took him to the west Midlands , the north-east (reaching Yorkshire and County Durham ), and the Bristol region. He probably explored the south-east in shorter excursions. He is not known to have toured East Anglia , for which only
2800-458: Is thought to be about 7,000 years old, but peat development seems to have begun there with the ending of the last ice age , about 10,000 years ago. The depth of peat ranges from 24 to 30 feet (7 to 9 m). A great deal of reclamation work has been carried out, particularly during the 19th century, but a large-scale network of drainage channels is still required to keep the land from reverting to bog. In 1958 workers extracting peat discovered
2900-596: The Dissolution of the Monasteries , Leland did not abandon his hunt for books. For instance, he obtained official permission to avail himself of the library belonging to the defunct monastery of Bury St Edmunds . The descriptions of Britain which he encountered in the manuscripts, however, and his personal experiences of travel, also sparked off fresh interests. By about 1538, Leland had turned his attention to English and Welsh topography and antiquities, embarking on
3000-675: The Haraldskær Woman and Tollund Man in Denmark, and Lindow man found at Lindow Common in England. The Tollund Man was so well preserved that when the body was discovered in 1950, the discoverers thought it was a recent murder victim and researchers were even able to tell the last meal that the Tollund Man ate before he died: porridge and fish. This process happens because of the low oxygen levels of bogs in combination with
3100-1318: The Northern Hemisphere . The world's largest wetland is the peat bogs of the Western Siberian Lowlands in Russia , which cover more than a million square kilometres. Large peat bogs also occur in North America, particularly the Hudson Bay Lowland and the Mackenzie River Basin. They are less common in the Southern Hemisphere, with the largest being the Magellanic moorland , comprising some 44,000 square kilometres (17,000 sq mi) in southern South America. Sphagnum bogs were widespread in northern Europe but have often been cleared and drained for agriculture. A paper led by Graeme T. Swindles in 2019 showed that peatlands across Europe have undergone rapid drying in recent centuries owing to human impacts including drainage, peat cutting and burning. A 2014 expedition leaving from Itanga village, Republic of
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3200-464: The barley used in making Scotch whisky . Once the peat has been extracted it can be difficult to restore the wetland , since peat accumulation is a slow process. More than 90% of the bogs in England have been damaged or destroyed. In 2011 plans for the elimination of peat in gardening products were announced by the UK government. The peat in bogs is an important place for the storage of carbon. If
3300-553: The curlew Numenius arquata and the long-eared owl Asio otus . There is a large heronry in Botany Bay Wood, the largest area of woodland in Greater Manchester. The domestic and industrial waste dumped on Chat Moss resulted in very high levels of heavy metals such as lead and copper in the soil, raising concerns that crops grown there may pose a health risk. The high pH of the peaty soil limits
3400-417: The 1530s and 1540s, the royal library was reorganised to accommodate hundreds of books that were previously kept in monastic collections. Leland himself describes how Henry's palaces at Greenwich , Hampton Court and Westminster were adapted for the purpose. Leland's part in this is uncertain. In humanist fashion, Leland styled himself antiquarius , a title which was at one time interpreted as referring to
3500-471: The 1880s, Manchester was producing more than 200,000 tons (203,209 t ) of refuse annually, about 75 per cent of that being night soil. In 1895, Manchester Corporation purchased 2,502 acres (1,013 ha) of Chat Moss known as Chat Moss Estate from Sir Humphrey de Trafford , with a view to using the moss as a refuse disposal site. The final price paid by the corporation was £137,531 7 s 1 d (equivalent to £18.7 million in 2023) Refuse
3600-416: The 1940s. This has been found to be from fluctuations in ground water and increase in acidity in lower areas of bogs that is affecting the rich organic material. Many of these areas have been permeated to the lowest levels with oxygen, which dries and cracks layers. There have been some temporary solutions to try and fix these issues, such as adding soil to the tops of threatened areas, yet they do not work in
3700-488: The 1990s, an estimated 72 per cent of the bog had been reclaimed, most of it for agriculture. About 230 acres (93 ha) of degraded bog remain, with 766 acres (310 ha) of undamaged peat deposits in four former peat extraction sites. The peat varies in depth between 24 feet (7 m) and 30 feet (9 m). The main bog mosses found in the peat of Chat Moss are Sphagnum cuspidatum , S. imbricatum , and S. acutifolia . The peat up to about 7 feet (2 m) from
3800-528: The Arthurian tradition that might otherwise have been lost. Leland's material provides invaluable evidence for reconstructing the lost "tomb monument" of Arthur (thought to be a fabrication of the twelfth century) at Glastonbury Abbey . He was probably also responsible for making a drawing of the lead cross that identified the grave as Arthur's, afterwards published as a woodcut in the 1607 edition of Camden's Britannia . On his itinerary of 1542, Leland
3900-523: The Congo , discovered a peat bog "as big as England " which stretches into neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo . Like all wetlands, it is difficult to rigidly define bogs for a number of reasons, including variations between bogs, the in-between nature of wetlands as an intermediate between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and varying definitions between wetland classification systems. However, there are characteristics common to all bogs that provide
4000-456: The King for January 1546, but James Carley has shown that it must have been composed in late 1543 or early 1544 (so that if it was presented at the new year, which is not certain, it would have been in 1544). In the letter, Leland reported on his endeavours to preserve books, and the extent and thoroughness of his travels through England and Wales: I have so travelid yn yowr dominions booth by
4100-689: The acquaintance of humanist scholars whom he much admired, such as Guillaume Budé and Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples . A scholar of particular importance for Leland was François Dubois (Silvius), professor at the Collège de Tournai , who had a profound effect on his poetic as well as antiquarian interests. While in France, Leland kept in touch with his friends and sponsors in England, probably including Thomas Wolsey (d. 1530), Cardinal and Lord Chancellor, who made him rector at Laverstoke , Hampshire. By 1529, Leland had returned to England. When Wolsey fell from
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4200-460: The anti- Corn Law MP and owner of the Leeds Mercury newspaper. Between 1831 and 1851, the population of nearby Manchester increased by more than 150 per cent, putting considerable pressure on refuse disposal. The problem was exacerbated by a gradual switch from the 1870s onwards from the older cesspit methods of sewage disposal to pail closets , which required regular emptying. By
4300-596: The antiquary, William Burton . Burton subsequently managed to recover several of the items given to Hales, and in 1632 and 1642–3 donated most of the collection—comprising the Collectanea , De scriptoribus and several of the Itinerary notebooks—to the Bodleian Library , Oxford, where the volumes remain. The Leland Trail is a 28-mile (45 km) footpath , which follows the footsteps of John Leland as he traversed South Somerset between 1535 and 1543 in
4400-554: The area in 1724, on his way from Warrington to Manchester : From hence (Warrington), on the road to Manchester, we pass'd the great bog or waste call'd Chatmos, the first of that kind that we see in England ;... The surface, at a distance, looks black and dirty, and is indeed frightful to think of, for it will bear neither horse or man, unless in an exceeding dry season, and then not so as to be passable, or that any one should travel over them ... What nature meant by such
4500-524: The area its distinctive flat landscape broken up by ditches instead of hedges or walls. Even after all of the reclamation work that has taken place, parts of the area remain remote and bleak. A scheme was devised during the Second World War to protect major cities from enemy bombing by lighting decoy fires on nearby open land. Manchester was protected by four of these Starfish sites as they were known, two of them on Chat Moss. RAF Balloon Command
4600-456: The bog, to the north of Irlam . Also the A580 crosses the bog, forming Leigh , Lowton and Astley 's ( Wigan MBC )'s boundary with Warrington , Culcheth and Glazebury , Croft , and Kenyon . Chat Moss may be named after St Chad , a 7th-century bishop of Mercia , but as it was once part of a great tree-edged lake, as evidenced by the numerous wood remains in the lower levels of the peat, it
4700-518: The combination of low nutrient levels and waterlogging. Sphagnum is generally abundant, along with ericaceous shrubs. The shrubs are often evergreen, which may assist in conservation of nutrients. In drier locations, evergreen trees can occur, in which case the bog blends into the surrounding expanses of boreal evergreen forest. Sedges are one of the more common herbaceous species. Carnivorous plants such as sundews ( Drosera ) and pitcher plants (for example Sarracenia purpurea ) have adapted to
4800-565: The corporation agreed to supply 300 tons (305 t) of refuse per acre free of charge for the first year, with the tenant being obliged to accept 12 tons (12 t) of refuse per acre each year thereafter. The dumping of night soil on Chat Moss ended in 1923, but general refuse continued to be dumped on a diminishing scale until it finally ended in 1966. Once drained, stabilised and fertilised, Chat Moss became prime agricultural land, supplying Manchester with salad and other vegetables. The drainage channels, still required today, give
4900-522: The course of his investigation of the region's antiquities. The Leland Trail begins at King Alfred's Tower on the Wiltshire / Somerset border and finishes at Ham Hill Country Park . Leland's prose writings, published and unpublished, include: Leland's writings are an invaluable primary source , not only for the local history and the geography of England, but also for literary history , archaeology , social history , and economic history . This
5000-947: The custody of Sir John Cheke . John Bale consulted some of them at this time. Cheke fell from favour on the accession of Queen Mary , and departed for mainland Europe in 1554: from that point onwards, and continuing after Cheke's death in 1557, the library was dispersed. Books were acquired by collectors including Sir William Cecil , William, Lord Paget , John Dee and Archbishop Matthew Parker . Leland's own manuscript notebooks were inherited by Cheke's son, Henry, and in 1576 they were borrowed and transcribed by John Stow , allowing their contents to begin to circulate in antiquarian circles. Antiquaries who gained access to them through Stow included William Camden , William Harrison , Robert Glover and Francis Thynne . The original notebooks passed from Henry Cheke to Humphrey Purefoy, and so (following his death in 1598) to Humphrey's son Thomas, who divided many of them between his two cousins John Hales and
5100-400: The deepest part of the valley, and a stream may run through the surface of the bog. Valley bogs may develop in relatively dry and warm climates, but because they rely on ground or surface water, they only occur on acidic substrates. These develop from a lake or flat marshy area, over either non-acidic or acidic substrates. Over centuries there is a progression from open lake, to a marsh, to
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#17327757299275200-558: The dissolved minerals (e.g. calcium , magnesium , carbonate ) that act to buffer the natural acidity of atmospheric carbon dioxide . Geography and geology both impact the hydrology: as groundwater mineral content reflects the bedrock geology, there can be great deal of variability in some common ions (e.g. manganese , iron ) while proximity to coastal areas is associated with higher sulfate and sodium concentrations. There are many highly specialized animals, fungi, and plants associated with bog habitat. Most are capable of tolerating
5300-586: The earliest archaeological field report. Leland was a staunch patriot, and believed firmly in the historical veracity of King Arthur . He therefore took offence when the Italian scholar Polydore Vergil cast doubts on certain elements in the Arthurian legend in his Anglica Historia (published in 1534). Leland's first response was an unpublished tract, written perhaps in 1536, the Codrus sive Laus et Defensio Gallofridi Arturii contra Polydorum Vergilium . ("Codrus",
5400-460: The edges of acidic lakes. The bog vegetation, mostly sphagnum moss anchored by sedges (such as Carex lasiocarpa ), forms a floating mat approximately half a meter thick on the surface of water or above very wet peat. White spruce ( Picea glauca ) may grow in this bog regime. Walking on the surface causes it to move – larger movements may cause visible ripples on the surface, or they may even make trees sway. The bog mat may eventually spread across
5500-403: The engineers constructing the Liverpool and Manchester Railway in 1826 because of the difficulty in providing a solid base for the track, in particular at a location known as Blackpool Hole. George Stephenson was the engineer in charge of the project, and his initial idea was to dump enough spoil in the bog so that it would reach the bottom. This approach turned out to be impractical however, as
5600-684: The ex- Carmelite churchman and fellow antiquary John Bale , who much admired his work and offered his assistance. In 1536, not long after the Suppression of Religious Houses Act 1535 commanding the dissolution of lesser monasteries was passed, Leland lamented the spoliation of monastic libraries and addressed Thomas Cromwell in a letter seeking aid for the rescue of books. He complained that The Germans perceive our desidiousness, and do send daily young scholars hither that spoileth [books], and cutteth them out of libraries, returning home and putting them abroad as monuments of their own country. In
5700-553: The global average. Because bogs and other peatlands are carbon sinks, they are releasing large amounts of greenhouse gases as they warm up. These changes have resulted in a severe decline of biodiversity and species populations of peatlands throughout Northern Europe. Bog habitats may develop in various situations, depending on the climate and topography. Bogs may be classified on their topography, proximity to water, method of recharge, and nutrient accumulation. These develop in gently sloping valleys or hollows. A layer of peat fills
5800-421: The ground surface may remain waterlogged for much of the time, providing conditions for the development of bog vegetation . In these circumstances, bog develops as a layer "blanketing" much of the land, including hilltops and slopes. Although a blanket bog is more common on acidic substrates, under some conditions it may also develop on neutral or even alkaline ones, if abundant acidic rainwater predominates over
5900-469: The groundwater. A blanket bog can occur in drier or warmer climates, because under those conditions hilltops and sloping ground dry out too often for peat to form – in intermediate climates a blanket bog may be limited to areas which are shaded from direct sunshine. In periglacial climates a patterned form of blanket bog may occur, known as a string bog . In Europe, these mostly very thin peat layers without significant surface structures are distributed over
6000-840: The headwaters of large rivers. Even the enormous Yangtze River arises in the Ruoergai peatland near its headwaters in Tibet . Blueberries , cranberries , cloudberries , huckleberries , and lingonberries are harvested from the wild in bogs. Bog oak , wood that has been partially preserved by bogs, has been used in the manufacture of furniture . Sphagnum bogs are also used for outdoor recreation, with activities including ecotourism and hunting. For example, many popular canoe routes in northern Canada include areas of peatland. Some other activities, such as all-terrain vehicle use, are especially damaging to bogs. The anaerobic environment and presence of tannic acids within bogs can result in
6100-708: The high acidity. These anaerobic conditions lead to some of the best-preserved mummies and offer much archeological insight into society as far as 8,000 years back. Céide Fields in County Mayo in Ireland, a 5,000-year-old neolithic farming landscape has been found preserved under a blanket bog , complete with field walls and hut sites. One ancient artifact found in various bogs is bog butter , large masses of fat, usually in wooden containers. These are thought to have been food stores of both butter and tallow . John Leland (antiquary) John Leland or Leyland (13 September, c. 1503 – 18 April 1552)
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#17327757299276200-521: The hills and valleys of Ireland, Scotland, England, and Norway. In North America, blanket bogs occur predominantly in Canada east of Hudson Bay . These bogs are often still under the influence of mineral soil water (groundwater). Blanket bogs do not occur north of the 65th latitude in the northern hemisphere. A quaking bog , schwingmoor , or swingmoor is a form of floating bog occurring in wetter parts of valley bogs and raised bogs and sometimes around
6300-496: The king appears to have entrusted Leland with a document, "a moste gratius commission" (or principis diploma as he called it in Latin), which authorized him to examine and use the libraries of all religious houses in England. Leland spent the next few years travelling from house to house, for the most part shortly before they were dissolved, compiling numerous lists of significant or unusual books in their libraries. About 1535, he met
6400-559: The king sent Leland to Oxford , where as Anthony Wood later claimed from tradition, he became a fellow of All Souls College . He would later deplore the state of education at Oxford, which he felt was too conservative in its approach to classical studies. Between 1526 and 1528, Leland proceeded to Paris , studying along with many fellow expatriates, both English and German. His original plan to study in Italy, too, never succeeded. Leland honed his skills at composing Latin poetry and sought
6500-523: The king's favour in that year, Leland appears to have sought the patronage of Thomas Cromwell , a relationship which would help explain his rising fortunes over the next few years. He was appointed one of the chaplains to King Henry VIII , who gave him the rectory of Peuplingues (Pepeling), in the marshes of Calais (though he may never have visited the place). In 1533, Leland received papal dispensation for four benefices, on condition that he became subdeacon within two years and priest within seven. He
6600-399: The land so that materials such as clay , lime or marl could be dumped on it, to give it body; and fertilising the land by adding manure, often in the form of the euphemistically named night soil , collected from neighbouring towns. The reclamation of Chat Moss and Trafford Moss was innovative in that instead of constructing roads to give access for the material to be dumped onto the bog,
6700-444: The largest block of semi-natural woodland in Greater Manchester. Most of the area is now Green Belt , placing restrictions on the kinds of developments that can take place. There are areas of commercial peat extraction, but Salford City Council is seeking to return at least some back to wet mossland. Planning permission for peat extraction expired at the end of 2010. At a meeting held on 30 June 2011 Salford Council decided not to renew
6800-631: The last ice age , about 10,000 years ago. The combination of the flat topography and the underlying clay resulted in extensive peat bogs developing along the Mersey Valley, and overflowing beyond the valley. The bogs in the area between the River Glaze in the west, and Worsley and Eccles in the east, to the north of what was the River Irwell – now the Manchester Ship Canal – are known collectively as Chat Moss. Chat Moss
6900-448: The liquidity of the bog allowed the spoil to flow away from where the track was to be laid. The eventual solution, to build the line on a "floating" wood and stone foundation, was hailed as a "great triumph of engineering". The first train ran through Chat Moss in 1830, and the line is still in use today. The first attempt at reclaiming Chat Moss took place at the start of the 19th century. In 1793 William Roscoe began work on reclaiming
7000-497: The long-term. Extreme weather like dry summers are likely the cause, as they lower precipitation and the groundwater table. It is speculated that these issues will only increase with a rise in global temperature and climate change. Since bogs take thousands of years to form and create the rich peat that is used as a resource, once they are gone they are extremely hard to recover. Arctic and sub-Arctic circles where many bogs are warming at 0.6 °C per decade, an amount twice as large as
7100-526: The low fertility and cool climate result in relatively slow plant growth, but decay is even slower due to low oxygen levels in saturated bog soils. Hence, peat accumulates. Large areas of the landscape can be covered many meters deep in peat. Bogs have distinctive assemblages of animal, fungal, and plant species, and are of high importance for biodiversity , particularly in landscapes that are otherwise settled and farmed. Bogs are widely distributed in cold, temperate climes , mostly in boreal ecosystems in
7200-408: The low-nutrient conditions by using invertebrates as a nutrient source. Orchids have adapted to these conditions through the use of mycorrhizal fungi to extract nutrients. Some shrubs such as Myrica gale (bog myrtle) have root nodules in which nitrogen fixation occurs, thereby providing another supplemental source of nitrogen. Bogs are recognized as a significant/specific habitat type by
7300-402: The mid-1540s, Leland wrote a letter to Henry VIII in which he outlined his achievements so far, and his future plans. It was subsequently published by John Bale in 1549 (with Bale's own additional commentary) under the title The laboryouse journey & serche of Johan Leylande for Englandes antiquitees . The letter has traditionally (following Bale) been regarded as a "New Year's gift" to
7400-496: The mobility of the metals however, and prevents them being taken up by crops. Chat Moss makes up the largest area of prime farmland in Greater Manchester, but farming on the moss is in decline. In 2003, it was reported that of the 54 farms on the moss, occupying 3,000 acres (1,214 ha), almost half the area of the bog, only three were growing vegetables. Others had turned to arable farming, turf growing or horse livery instead of salad and vegetable crops. Chat Moss also contains
7500-440: The moss are bog, heathland, woodland and acidic grassland, subject to varying degrees of wetness depending on the local drainage. The remaining areas of bog are dominated by common cottongrass Eriophorum angustifolium and hare's-tail cottongrass E. vaginatum . Bog mosses are more scarce, but Sphagnum cuspidatum , S. recurvum , S. tenellum , S. fimbriatum and S. subnitens occur in patches. As
7600-475: The peat decays, carbon dioxide would be released to the atmosphere, contributing to global warming. Undisturbed, bogs function as a carbon sink . As one example, the peatlands of the former Soviet Union were calculated to be removing 52 Tg of carbon per year from the atmosphere. Therefore, the rewetting of drained peatlands may be one of the most cost-effective ways to mitigate climate change. Peat bogs are also important in storing fresh water, particularly in
7700-482: The peat has become drier, areas have been taken over by purple moor grass Molinia caerulea and by downy birch Betula pubescens . The moss also supports several bird species, and is particularly important for wintering raptors such as the hen harrier Circus cyaneus cyaneus , the short-eared owl Asio flammeus and the merlin Falco ;columbarius , along with breeding species such as
7800-479: The permission, and on 1 August obtained a court order prohibiting any further extraction pending an appeal by the companies involved. A public inquiry concluded in 2012 supported the council's decision, and commercial peat extraction on Chat Moss ceased. In 1994 the British composer Peter Maxwell Davies , who was born in Salford , wrote a seven-minute tone poem for school orchestra, titled Chat Moss . Chat Moss
7900-613: The remarkable preservation of organic material. Finds of such material have been made in Slovenia , Denmark , Germany , Ireland , Russia , and the United Kingdom. Some bogs have preserved bog-wood, such as ancient oak logs useful in dendrochronology . They have yielded extremely well-preserved bog bodies , with hair, organs, and skin intact, buried there thousands of years ago after apparent Germanic and Celtic human sacrifice . Excellent examples of such human specimens include
8000-429: The se costes and the midle partes, sparing nother labor nor costes, by the space of these vi. yeres paste, that there is almoste nother cape, nor bay, haven, creke or peere, river or confluence of rivers, breches, waschis, lakes, meres, fenny waters, montaynes, valleis, mores, hethes, forestes, wooddes, cities, burges, castelles, principale manor placis, monasteries, and colleges, but I have seene them; and notid yn so doing
8100-496: The severed head of what is believed to be a Romano-British Celt , possibly a sacrificial victim, in the eastern part of the bog near Worsley . Much of Chat Moss is now prime agricultural land, although farming in the area is in decline. A 228-acre (92 ha) area of Chat Moss, notified as Astley and Bedford Mosses , was designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1989. Along with nearby Risley Moss and Holcroft Moss, Astley and Bedford Mosses has also been designated as
8200-426: The smaller Trafford Moss, now part of Trafford Park . By 1798 that work was sufficiently advanced for Roscoe to enter into a lease of part of Chat Moss from the de Trafford family, but no reclamation work was carried out until 1805. Reclamation methods varied somewhat during the 19th century, but three basic operations featured; constructing drains at appropriate intervals; building a system of roads to allow access to
8300-566: The surface is mainly humidified S. acutifolia , with fresher S. imbricatum peat nearer the surface. A 228-acre (92 ha) area of Chat Moss, to the north of the Liverpool–Manchester railway line, notified as Astley & Bedford Mosses, was designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1989. Astley & Bedford Mosses, along with Risley Moss and Holcroft Moss, is also a European Union designated Special Area of Conservation , known as Manchester Mosses. The major habitats in
8400-646: The time of Henry's death, "he fell besides his wits". Leland was certified insane in March 1550 and died, still mentally deranged, on 18 April 1552, aged about 48. Leland was buried in the church of St Michael-le-Querne near his home. However the church was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666, and not rebuilt, and so Leland's tomb has been lost. Following Leland's death or (more probably) his descent into madness, King Edward VI arranged for Leland's library, including many medieval manuscripts, to be placed in
8500-568: The valuable rectory of Great Haseley , Oxfordshire . The year following he preferred him to a canonry of King's College, now Christ Church, Oxford , and about the same time, collated him to a prebend in the church of Sarum . He was an absentee pluralist, with the income and leisure to pursue his interests. He retired with his collections to his house in the parish of St Michael-le-Querne , adjoining Cheapside , London, where he intended to work on his various projects. However, in February 1547 near
8600-401: The water surface to cover bays or even entire small lakes. Bogs at the edges of lakes may become detached and form floating islands . A cataract bog is a rare ecological community formed where a permanent stream flows over a granite outcropping. The sheeting of water keeps the edges of the rock wet without eroding the soil, but in this precarious location, no tree or large shrub can maintain
8700-482: Was Kent . "Let this be the firste chapitre of the booke", he wrote; "The King hymself was borne yn Kent. Kent is the key of al Englande." John Bale later listed an Itinerarium Cantiae (Itinerary of Kent) among Leland's writings. Although Leland's Itinerary notes remained unpublished until the eighteenth century, they provided a significant quarry of data and descriptions for William Camden 's Britannia (first edition, 1586), and many other antiquarian works. In
8800-417: Was "a vaynegloryouse persone, whyche woulde promyse more, than ever he was able or intended to perfourme". Leland was concerned to record evidence for the history of England and Wales as it was visible in the landscape, and he therefore took pains to note all kinds of archaeological remains, including megaliths , hillforts , and Roman and medieval ruins. He came across several Roman inscriptions , though he
8900-500: Was also the subject of a ceiling painting produced as the result of a research project jointly funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Board and Arts Council England . The project was a collaboration between artist Derek Hampson and geographer Gary Priestnall. Hampson chose Chat Moss as their subject because of its 19th-century historical significance as the site of the world's first passenger railway and its "anti-picturesque appearance",
9000-470: Was an English poet and antiquary . Leland has been described as "the father of English local history and bibliography". His Itinerary provided a unique source of observations and raw materials for many subsequent antiquaries, and introduced the county as the basic unit for studying the local history of England, an idea that has been influential ever since. Most evidence for Leland's life and career comes from his own writings, especially his poetry. He
9100-501: Was appointed prebendary of Wilton Abbey in Wiltshire in 1535 and received two adjacent benefices. Leland and Nicholas Udall composed verses to be read or recited at the pageant of Anne Boleyn 's arrival in London in 1533, which was staged for the occasion of her coronation. Their common patron was probably Thomas, Duke of Norfolk and Cornwall. The poets worked together again during 1533 and 1534, when Leland contributed verses for Udall's Floures for Latine Spekynge . In 1533,
9200-452: Was born in London on 13 September, most probably in about 1503, and had an older brother, also named John. Having lost both his parents at an early age, he and his brother were raised by Thomas Myles. Leland was educated at St Paul's School , London, under its first headmaster, William Lily . It was here that he already met some of his future benefactors, notably William Paget . Leland
9300-538: Was carried on barges down the Manchester Ship Canal as far as Boysnope Wharf, where it was loaded onto a light railway system to be taken into the moss for dumping. Farmers on Chat Moss were legally required by their tenancy agreements to accept a specified amount of refuse on their land, and were even obliged to pay for it. Farmers could themselves undertake reclamation work, with the land reclaimed being incorporated into their tenancies. An agreement dated 1905, between Manchester Corporation and Plant Cottage Farm, shows that
9400-460: Was normally content to record surface remains and recovered artefacts, but on one occasion he adopted a more interventionist approach. At the hillfort at Burrough Hill , Leicestershire, he pulled some stones from the gateway to establish whether it had been walled or not: they were mortared with lime, which persuaded him that it had been. The account included in Leland's Itinerary may be regarded as
9500-452: Was one of the first companies to mechanically harvest peat, which is being phased out. The other major use of dried peat is as a soil amendment (sold as moss peat or sphagnum peat ) to increase the soil's capacity to retain moisture and enrich the soil. It is also used as a mulch . Some distilleries , notably in the Islay whisky-producing region, use the smoke from peat fires to dry
9600-536: Was put in the care of the Manchester Medical School. The discovery of the nearby Lindow Man in 1984 generated renewed interest in bog bodies , and in 1987 what had become known as Worsley Man was re-examined. The inspection revealed a wound behind the right ear, fractures to the top of the skull, and a cut through the vertebra where he had been decapitated. The remains of a garotte were also found around his neck, all of which were suggestive of
9700-429: Was responsible for the administration and manning of the sites, which were fully operational by 23 January 1941. Each consisted of an air raid shelter for the crew along with various devices to simulate street lighting and the explosions of incendiary bombs. The effectiveness of the decoy sites is uncertain, and they were closed in 1943. In August 1958, workmen digging peat in an area of Chat Moss near Worsley discovered
9800-456: Was subsequently sent to Christ's College, Cambridge , graduating in 1522 (BA). While studying there, he was for a short time imprisoned, having accused a certain knight of collaborating with Richard de la Pole , the Yorkist claimant to the throne (d. 1525). He proceeded to Lambeth, London, serving Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk , as tutor to his son Thomas . When the duke died in 1524,
9900-582: Was the first to record the tradition (possibly influenced by the proximity of the villages of Queen Camel and West Camel ) identifying the hillfort of Cadbury Castle in Somerset as Arthur's Camelot : At the very south ende of the chirch of South-Cadbyri standeth Camallate, sumtyme a famose toun or castelle, apon a very torre or hille, wunderfully enstregnthenid of nature.... The people can telle nothing ther but that they have hard say that Arture much resortid to Camalat. In 1542, Henry presented Leland with
10000-539: Was unable to read most of them, complaining of one that it was made up of "letters for whole words, and 2. or 3. letters conveid in one". He often reported finds of coins, writing of Richborough , Kent, for example, that more Roman money had been discovered there "then in any place els of England". He investigated and recorded building materials in some detail. He was sometimes able to make astute and informed deductions from what he saw. At Lincoln , for example, he identified three phases of urban development, beginning with
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