Archaeologist worried over threat to Rochdale's heritage

An archaeologist now living in Sweden says he was amazed to discover the place-name Ding near Rooley Moor.

Stuart Mendelsohn explained that from prehistoric sites to late medieval, Rochdale has a wealth of archaeological sites yet to be studied and he says "hopefully conserved". Adding: "It is sad that while plans for quarrying at Ding threaten Rochdale's heritage, there is nobody to record or protect sites that elsewhere would be a source of local pride and international interest."

"On visits to Rochdale earlier this year I noted previously unrecorded sites and reported these to English Heritage. These sites would normally have been recorded decades ago anywhere else in Britain! I now realise how neglected the area is, it is not normal for someone living in Sweden to have better knowledge than the local sites and monuments record."

Much has been written about the Ding place name by academics at Nottingham University. Ding is thought to be the dialect word for Thing, by Vikings who had been in contact with Gaelic speakers in the West of Britain and Ireland. A poem about the great battle of Brunanburh in the Anglo Saxon Chronicle, mentions a "Dingesmere",

Mr Mendelsohn cites the following points as supporting the case for a 'thing' site in Rochdale:

• The Ding place-name appears genuine and is in an area near other Norse place-names.
• The Ding is on common land, with commanding views over Manchester and beyond.
  Roads going North/South and East/West cross the Ding area.
• We find a Norse personal name nearby in Healey.
• Important trade routes connected Rochdale to Scandinavian dominated trade centres.
• Dublin Vikings settled in the Wirral and attacked Chester, could a group have settled in Rochdale too? (creating the Gaelic influenced "Ding" place-name?).
• Rochdale was described as a wapentake, a Scandinavian administrative area.
• The Domesday book mentions the special legal privileges of Rochdale, and they were similar to those of West Derby, which had a thing at Thingwall (a low lying site, quite different to the moors above Rochdale, which reach over 400m. above sea level).
• The sargeancy of the court of Rochdale mentioned in medieval documents, probably represents a survival of the original Ding's area of jurisdiction and legal scope.

Mr Mendelsohn says he hopes to assess the archaeological evidence for the Ding in the near future.