Merseyside Archaeological Society
Forthcoming Events
MAS Field Trips - Summer 2023
Sunday 2nd April - Bolton Museum Egyptian displays
Saturday 13th May - Childwall All Saints churchyard
Saturday 3rd June - Ness Gardens
Saturday 15th July - Loggerheads Country Park
Sunday 3rd September - Birkenhead Park and Birkenhead Priory
Sunday 2nd April - Bolton Museum Egyptian displays
Saturday 13th May - Childwall All Saints churchyard
Saturday 3rd June - Ness Gardens
Saturday 15th July - Loggerheads Country Park
Sunday 3rd September - Birkenhead Park and Birkenhead Priory
Past Events
MAS Field Trips - Summer 2022
Saturday 14th May - Hale village, Dungeon saltworks etc.
Saturday 11th June - Newton-le-Willows motte, mill, battlefields
Saturday 9th July - Hilbre Islands
Thursday 11th August evening - Formby Second World War and Cold War defences
2022 Conference
The long-awaited (postponed from 2020 due to covid restrictions!) Archaeology in Merseyside (AIM 2022) conference.
The 2022 conference was held at the Museum of Liverpool on 2nd April 2022.
The conference featured talks about new archaeological work in Merseyside in the morning and afternoon sessions, with a handling and display session and book sales after lunch. Topics ranged from prehistoric period rock art at Calderstones and footprints and environmental evidence on the beach at Formby, to post-medieval pottery production in and around Liverpool.
MAS Field trips - Summer 2021
Monday 21st June - Guided walk of Crosby beach
Tuesday 13th July - Site visit to Piermaster's House dig, Liverpool
Tuesday 17th August - Guided walk to Hilbre
Saturday 25th September - Site visit to Norton Priory Excavation
Saturday 14th May - Hale village, Dungeon saltworks etc.
Saturday 11th June - Newton-le-Willows motte, mill, battlefields
Saturday 9th July - Hilbre Islands
Thursday 11th August evening - Formby Second World War and Cold War defences
2022 Conference
The long-awaited (postponed from 2020 due to covid restrictions!) Archaeology in Merseyside (AIM 2022) conference.
The 2022 conference was held at the Museum of Liverpool on 2nd April 2022.
The conference featured talks about new archaeological work in Merseyside in the morning and afternoon sessions, with a handling and display session and book sales after lunch. Topics ranged from prehistoric period rock art at Calderstones and footprints and environmental evidence on the beach at Formby, to post-medieval pottery production in and around Liverpool.
MAS Field trips - Summer 2021
Monday 21st June - Guided walk of Crosby beach
Tuesday 13th July - Site visit to Piermaster's House dig, Liverpool
Tuesday 17th August - Guided walk to Hilbre
Saturday 25th September - Site visit to Norton Priory Excavation
MAS Field Trips - Summer 2019
Saturday 13th July 10am. Field trip on foot. Venue: Widnes and Runcorn
Meet at 10:00am in the cafe at the Catalyst museum. We will visit Spike Island and then walk across the Jubilee Bridge to Runcorn Old Town for lunch (various options). Afterwards investigate the Bridgewater Canal and lock flight down to the Ship Canal. Walk back over the bridge or return to Liverpool on bus or train from Runcorn. There is a car park at the Catalyst museum and it can also be reached by bus from Liverpool (walk from Victoria Road) or by train to Runcorn (with a walk over the pedestrian bridge). Trip in cooperation with Merseyside Industrial Heritage Society - booking is not required.
Saturday 24th August 10am. Venue: Hilbre Island
Details: Roy Forshaw will guide a walk of Hilbre Island which has evidence for Prehistoric, Roman, medieval, Post-medieval andVictorian settlement and industry.
Details of meeting points etc TBC, please contact Mark Adams in advance.
Saturday 21st September . Venue: The Calderstones
Details: A preview visit to the Calderstones.
MAS Field Trips - Summer 2018
Saturday June 9th - An invitation to Castleshaw with Norman Redhead
The Castleshaw Valley (near Delph, Oldham) has archaeology from all periods including a Roman fort, medieval iron smelting and post-medieval textile industry.
Weekend of 14/15th July - South Cumbria
On Saturday there was a walk in the area around the village of Orton (near Tebay off M6 Junction 38) looking at Iron Age remains, a stone circle and a Roman road amongst other features. On Sunday there was a walk in the valley at Smardale (10km east of Tebay) following an old railway to see prehistoric settlements, medieval fields, a drover’s road and 19th and 20th century industry.
Saturday August 18th - Norton Priory and Halton Castle
Following the recent talks to the society by Lynn Smith and Sarah Cattell, there was an opportunity for an enhanced visit to the newly rebuilt Norton Priory Museum and a chance to see Halton Castle with a fabulous view of the landscape. There was also a medieval event with re-enactors demonstrating crafts, fighting techniques, fashions etc. throughout the day.
Saturday 13th July 10am. Field trip on foot. Venue: Widnes and Runcorn
Meet at 10:00am in the cafe at the Catalyst museum. We will visit Spike Island and then walk across the Jubilee Bridge to Runcorn Old Town for lunch (various options). Afterwards investigate the Bridgewater Canal and lock flight down to the Ship Canal. Walk back over the bridge or return to Liverpool on bus or train from Runcorn. There is a car park at the Catalyst museum and it can also be reached by bus from Liverpool (walk from Victoria Road) or by train to Runcorn (with a walk over the pedestrian bridge). Trip in cooperation with Merseyside Industrial Heritage Society - booking is not required.
Saturday 24th August 10am. Venue: Hilbre Island
Details: Roy Forshaw will guide a walk of Hilbre Island which has evidence for Prehistoric, Roman, medieval, Post-medieval andVictorian settlement and industry.
Details of meeting points etc TBC, please contact Mark Adams in advance.
Saturday 21st September . Venue: The Calderstones
Details: A preview visit to the Calderstones.
MAS Field Trips - Summer 2018
Saturday June 9th - An invitation to Castleshaw with Norman Redhead
The Castleshaw Valley (near Delph, Oldham) has archaeology from all periods including a Roman fort, medieval iron smelting and post-medieval textile industry.
Weekend of 14/15th July - South Cumbria
On Saturday there was a walk in the area around the village of Orton (near Tebay off M6 Junction 38) looking at Iron Age remains, a stone circle and a Roman road amongst other features. On Sunday there was a walk in the valley at Smardale (10km east of Tebay) following an old railway to see prehistoric settlements, medieval fields, a drover’s road and 19th and 20th century industry.
Saturday August 18th - Norton Priory and Halton Castle
Following the recent talks to the society by Lynn Smith and Sarah Cattell, there was an opportunity for an enhanced visit to the newly rebuilt Norton Priory Museum and a chance to see Halton Castle with a fabulous view of the landscape. There was also a medieval event with re-enactors demonstrating crafts, fighting techniques, fashions etc. throughout the day.
2018 Conference
Merseyside Archaeological Society jointly with Museum of Liverpool held a one day conference in the Museum of Liverpool at Pier Head, Liverpool on 13th October 2018. A series of talks covered recent archaeological discoveries in Merseyside ranging from an 8000 years old Mesolithic hunter-gatherer site to 20th century defence structures. There was also be a handling session and book sale.
| MAS Conference 13th October 2018 - Programme |
MAS Conference October 2016
| MAS Conference 2016 - Programme |
| MAS Conference 2016 - Abstracts and biographies |
The Society hosted a conference celebrating its 40th Anniversary, "Past Forward", on 8th and 9th October 2016 at the Museum of Liverpool.
Talks at the conference were recorded and have been uploaded to YouTube:
Getting Involved: Community Archaeology at National Museums Liverpool - Liz Stewart
Making Merseyside: Metropolitan identity to localism in an era of public archaeology - Gill Chitty
Merseyside’s Archaeology: a short history of archaeology policies and practice in North West England - Norman Redhead
The Old Hutt, Yew Tree Farm and South Castle Street: What those sites taught us - Mark Adams
Community archaeology and a new direction for researching landscapes - Jamie Quartermaine
The MAS, the ASM, the SMR and the HER – recording Merseyside’s Archaeology over the last 40 years - Ben Croxford
From interest to influence: How to be an advocate for archaeology -
Rob Lennox
Talks at the conference were recorded and have been uploaded to YouTube:
Getting Involved: Community Archaeology at National Museums Liverpool - Liz Stewart
Making Merseyside: Metropolitan identity to localism in an era of public archaeology - Gill Chitty
Merseyside’s Archaeology: a short history of archaeology policies and practice in North West England - Norman Redhead
The Old Hutt, Yew Tree Farm and South Castle Street: What those sites taught us - Mark Adams
Community archaeology and a new direction for researching landscapes - Jamie Quartermaine
The MAS, the ASM, the SMR and the HER – recording Merseyside’s Archaeology over the last 40 years - Ben Croxford
From interest to influence: How to be an advocate for archaeology -
Rob Lennox