Compiled by Dr. S. Barrows & M. Collingwood
LOCATION
Avenham Park has been an open space in Preston since 1697, but the
land for the adjacent Miller Park was donated by local cotton manufacturer
Thomas Miller (1811-1865) in the mid-1800s. It was opened in 1867.
We posit that alluvial deposits from the water may be a factor in the
transmission of proto historic sounds from these surrounding
settlements, which date back to Neolothic, Roman and Saxon times.
HISTORICAL
Preston is an ancient settlement, recorded in the Domesday Book as
“Prestune” in 1086. It is purported that the town’s name is derived from Old English Presta and Tun: the Tun signifies enclosure,
farmstead, village, manor, estate and the Presta a priest or priests.
Anecdotally, Preston has an extremely high number of places of worship
and therefore was dubbed ‘Priest’s Town’ the words latterly being conflated to
form ‘Preston’.
There are at least 73 churches, chapels, missions and meeting-houses,
12 mosques, several temples and 15 cemeteries and burial sites. This
concentration of religious and ceremonial meeting places might account for the
number of bells, peeling and music, which has emanated from this current
eruption event.
The Battles of Preston
The battle was fought from 12-14 November in 1715
and took place through the streets of the city between the Jacobites and the
army of King George I, over 300 years ago (1715). It is sometimes also known as
the Preston Fight or
Fisticuffs. Although it is technically classed as a siege, there was
a great deal of savage fighting in streets all over the town during the ‘Battle’.
This might form some significant Proto Historical Sonic activity. There was an earlier ‘Battle of Preston’ during the
English Civil War, which took place in 1648 but this was fought mainly in
nearby Walton-Le-Dale. This first battle saw a victory for the New Model Army
under the command of Oliver Cromwell over the Royalists and Scots.
Industrial Preston
A further consideration is the Earth Trauma caused during the
Industrial Revolution, in which countless building works were completed,
dislocating surface geologies and exposing the ground in a manner conducive to seeding
and percolation of contemporary ambient phenomena. Preston saw an
expeditious period of growth and development during industrialization in the
1800s with the rapid expansion of textile manufacturing.
Railway
The original East Lancashire Railway ran through the edge of Miller
Park as does the North Union Railway Embankment.
During both the first and second World Wars, Preston Railway station was a major North-South route for troops. A
free 24-hour buffet for servicemen was provided to anyone in uniform (soldiers
or sailors) by the Women’s Voluntary Service, funded by subscription and had
its own marked crockery.
GEOLOGY
The Preston (Miller Park) Sounding Space is situated towards the
middle of the park, in sight of the Railway Line. The Ribble Valley is
fascinating in geological terms, with the oldest rocks, sandstones &
limestones, being laid down between 410 – 510 million years ago during the
Ordovician and Silurian periods.
NOTE: Following the development of the railways
stone could be brought cheaply to Preston, resulting in a town whose public
buildings and rockeries in parks are largely built of Pendle Grit or stones
from even further afield (Often from Scotland or the Lake District!). Do not be
confused by this invasive use of non-Lancastrian rock specimens in these
buildings! Some research attempts have been made to extract resonances from
singular geological specimens –‘rock music’ as it were, but these have, to
date, been fruitless. NB. From experience, it is not advisable to attempt
to remove the rockery stone for your own research endeavors, they are large,
unwieldy and could result in a conflagration with local constabulary, a hiatus
hernia or indeed both. (SB)
Geological
connectivity through the Ribble Valley suggests that we might expect to detect
Reflection Phenomena, as geological sound ‘flows’ along the riverbed via
underwater Transmission Layers. Atmospheric and radio wave imprinting within
the surface geology of the area is expected to be a significant influence on
the background sound profile in the Preston Sounding Space. Marconi’s
identification of strong Etheric Wave Transmission in the area suggests the
locale is particularly sensitive to electromagnetic fluctuation.
NOTE: there is fascinating research into
post-glacial river morphology being undertaken by Dr Wolfgang Lovejoy into this
field in his upcoming popular science book: Meander With Me Awhile!
Adventures in Alluvium*
*publication date and publisher yet to be
confirmed
ADDENDUM:
During the Eruption Event, Master L. Pickering of Preston had some particularly insightful comments about the melodic eruption event - specifically the "church bells" and "pirate songs" and we thank him for his contribution to our work. (WL)
ADDENDUM:
During the Eruption Event, Master L. Pickering of Preston had some particularly insightful comments about the melodic eruption event - specifically the "church bells" and "pirate songs" and we thank him for his contribution to our work. (WL)