Archaeology
In the early medieval period Meols continued as a port, though now people traded with Ireland and the Mediterranean. Finds include a pottery flask, which contained holy water from the shrine of St Menas in Egypt and Byzantine coins from Turkey, dating from the 6th century AD. Later finds show that Viking settlers used the port too. In 902 AD the Norwegian Vikings were expelled from Dublin. Norse settlers, led by their chief, Hingamund, left Dublin for England. Aethelfleda, Lady of the Mercians of Chester, granted them land in north Wirral. Viking place-names in Wirral show where they settled. The place-name Meols is derived from a Norse word 'melr' meaning 'sand dune'. Meols became a beach market where Viking traders could land their boats and exchange goods with other merchants. Viking ring-headed cloak pins from Ireland would be typical of the objects that were traded. A discovery came from examining the ironwork. Dr David Griffiths of Oxford University has recognised for the first time the contents of a Viking warrior burial, with a shield boss, spear and axe. This provided further evidence of the strong Norse presence in north Wirral.
Tiny rectangular plaque (14th century) with gilded, grotesque animal. Its two feet and a tail turn into three leaves. Probably originally enamelled, this may have been part of the decoration on a knife handle or a casket to hold valuables
The port of Meols was used right through the Middle Ages. Just as important, though, was the little farming settlement of Meols. About 1500 AD the villagers lost the battle against the sand dunes which finally covered the village. They moved a short distance to the south and established the new village of Meols where it stands to this day. Particularly important is the collection of later medieval objects. This includes a wide range of ordinary domestic items such as buckles and belt fittings, pottery, knives and agricultural implements. There are also personal seals, pilgrim badges and armour. Dr Geoff Egan of the Museum of London has described the medieval metalwork is the second most important group in the country after London.
Knives, spoons and pottery jugs give a glimpse of life in a medieval house. Clothes fittings, like buckles and belt attachments, and leather shoes would be the everyday wear of people. This necklace and brooch illustrated on this page though, would have been of special importance to the owners. The discovery of a scale balance and a large number of coins is evidence of trade. Several stirrups show us that the villagers had horses while iron arrowheads would have been used for hunting. Evidence of farming comes from the iron tools that have been found, such as sickles for harvesting crops, shears for clipping wool and iron spades for digging the ground.
During the 19th century erosion helped uncover the foundations of a number of medieval houses. The houses, with their clay floors, had been hidden under the sand for many years. Visitors to the ruins mentioned seeing the footprints of cows and people on the old village street. Unfortunately, nobody recorded these finds in detail.
Parts of a late medieval (early 15th century) pewter necklace with leaf pendants. A rare survival of a base-metal version (for a man or woman of ordinary means) of the fashion for gold or silver collars worn by the aristocracy
It is likely that little survives of ancient Meols today. The coastal erosion which revealed the objects also destroyed the settlements. The objects collected by antiquarians in the 19th century and kept public museums form almost the only surviving evidence of what was once one of the region's most important ports.
National Museums Liverpool has a small collection of material from Meols, from the collections of Joseph Mayer and Henry Ecroyd Smith. Unfortunately many objects were lost in the fire at Liverpool Museum of 1941. Other groups of objects are in the Grosvenor Museum, Chester, Warrington Museum, the British Museum, and the Williamson Art Gallery and Museum in Birkenhead.
Since 2000 a team of specialists from National Museums Liverpool, Oxford University, Chester Archaeology, the Museum of London and other institutions has been working on a major catalogue of the 'Meols' material, co-ordinated through National Museums Liverpool. The project aims to re-examine both the existing material and the finds published during the 19th century, unite them in a single work, and make them accessible to a wider public for the first time in a century.
The new research has raised a series of questions about what might survive behind the sea wall at Meols, a topic which Silvia Gonzalez of Liverpool John Moores University is examining in detail.
The Meols project to catalogue the finds has been funded from a wide variety of sources, including the British Academy, the Aurelius Fund, the Millennium Award Sharing Museum Skills scheme, PH Holt Trust, the Roman Research Trust and Merseyside Archaeological Society. Grateful thanks are due to all of these bodies.