A team of about 20 SPAG members have volunteered to help record the Grade II* listed Waggoner Tunstead Farm in Tunstead, Stacksteads.  With the oldest datestone in Bacup, 1632, it appears that it was originally 3 buildings.  It has gone through many changes over the centuries and indeed may be built on the site of an even earlier building.

Our initial visit was in typical winter weather and so time was spent trying to familiarise ourselves with the internal layout and then finding and identifying the marks on the old beams and stonework.  Many are carpenter’s and mason’s marks used to identify the individual craftsman whilst others may be marks to ward away witches and other evil spirits.  We don’t yet and may never know but that’s half the fun of archaeology!

The project is being led by Catherine Rousseau, a qualified archaeologist, SPAG member and proprietor of Discover Archaeology AECS, who are based in Bacup.  This project is part of a wider

If you’d like to know more, why not join us at the ABD Centre, Burnley Road, Bacup 10am to 12 noon on the morning of Saturday 12^th March.  Entry is free and tea, coffee and biscuits together with the opportunity to get involved in discovering your heritage are all available.  Everybody is welcome but we’re particularly interested in meeting people who have lived in the Tunstead area and have old photographs, maps or drawings or just interesting memories of the area.