New RCHAMW study of the archaeology of the Western Brecon Beacons

The Royal Commission’s publication, The Western Brecon Beacons: The Archaeology of Mynydd Du and Fforest Fawr by David Leighton with a foreword by BBC Radio Wales’ Roy Noble, provides detailed maps and images of a landscape of mountains and moorlands, an archaeological treasure trove revealing evidence of human activity since the end of the Ice Age. The book is the latest in the Royal Commission’s series, Discovering Upland Heritage, based on extensive fieldwork and research.

Heritage Reforms in the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill

English Heritage have welcomed the reforms contained in the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill, published today, to merge conservation area consent back into the planning system, make it easier to apply for a Certificate of Immunity from the listing of a building, to enable the creation of Heritage Partnership Agreements, and to allow the Heritage List for England to define the extent of special interest in a listed building more clearly, and with statutory force.

For more information see http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/about/news/heritage-reforms/

Historic Landscape Officer Job advertised with Oxfordshire County Council

Post to create Historic Landscape Characterisation for Oxford with Oxfordshire County Council :: LOCATION is Oxford : CLOSING DATE: 25/06/2012.

http://www.bajr.org/Employment/UKEmploymentDetails.asp?ID=8699

Marketing Training Event for Wiltshire Small Businesses

The newly-formed Wiltshire Business Support Service has appointed Secret Agent Marketing to deliver its series of marketing training courses to start-ups and small businesses in Wiltshire.


Marketing for Beginners will explain how marketing is more than just newspaper ads and glossy brochures; and how marketing should be a business investment, not an expense.

See Cranborne Chase & West Wiltshire Downs AONB Blog for more information

Supporting the Wiltshire Historic Farmstead Project

I was really happy to help support the Wiltshire Building Records Farmstead Day which was held on Saturday at a wonderful example of an historic downland farmstead near Maiden Bradley. The event was funded by the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs AONB and provided an insight into the workings of a traditional Wiltshire farmstead.

Wiltshire has a rich farming tradition and its farm buildings are a familiar part of our landscape.  Wiltshire, like all counties, is losing farmsteads at an alarming rate.  There is an urgent need to study and record farmsteads before it is too late.   

The Wiltshire Buildings Record is undertaking a major project to do this.  They are recording Wiltshire’s farm buildings for future generations. The work is held in their archives. The project is led by experts in historic buildings and the work is carried out by trained volunteers.

To get involved visit the Project Website

http://www.wiltshirebuildingsrecord.org.uk/farmstead.html

Victorian Society launches search for ten most endangered buildings

As reported by the Heritage Alliance 'The Victorian Society (a Member of the Alliance) is calling on historians, enthusiasts and local campaigners to nominate Victorian or Edwardian buildings that are at risk in their local area. The campaign aims to highlight the problems facing many of our historic buildings. Nominations in previous years have included Victorian schools, mills, former workhouses, pubs, stately homes and chapels."

Find out more / nominate here.

Chancellor announces £30m for Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme

The Chancellor’s announcement yesterday (17 May) of an extra £30m for the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme is very welcome news for listed churches.

However the Heritage Alliance still aregues that this announcement does nothing to address the ‘bigger picture’ of the Government’s decision to levy VAT on approved alterations to all listed buildings.

See www.theheritagealliance.org.uk for more information

Prehistory Society Event - Europa Conference 2012 at Reading

Booking for this popular and prestigious conference ends on Friday 25th May.

Features the talk 'Houses of commons, houses of lords: domestic dwellings and monumental architecture in prehistoric Europe' by Richard Bradley (University of Reading)

http://www.prehistoricsociety.org/events/event/landscape_monuments_and_society_including_the_europa_lecture/#When:14:16:36Z

New Partnership launches £1.5m funding initiative for industrial heritage

As reported on the Council for British Archaeology Website

"Independent museums and industrial sites are set to benefit from a new partnership between AIM – The Association of Independent Museums, and Biffa Award, a multi-million pound fund that helps to build communities and transform lives by awarding grants to community and environmental projects across the UK.

The National Heritage Landmarks Partnership Scheme will create a high profile network of interpretation and education projects across the UK, which will showcase the far-reaching changes in industrial development that have shaped our nation’s history.

Biffa Award has pledged a grant of £500,000 per year for three years, to help transform derelict buildings and sites into inspirational resources enabling the public to better understand the powerful tide of change that characterises our industrial past, by creating a network of key projects that tell the stories of people, processes, industrial development and change.

Museums and industrial sites are invited to submit bids for the first (2012) funding round. Applicants will need to be able to demonstrate significant impact and heritage benefit. Up to 4 projects will be selected for partnership funding in each annual round. Further details are available from the AIM website ."

Natural England consultation begins on using National Trails more felixbly

The consultation - A family of unique trails: Natural England discussion paper on the future management of National Trails from 2013 - proposes a fairer and more flexible funding structure and a greater involvement for local groups and organisations in the ways in which Trails are looked after.

http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/about_us/news/2012/110512.aspx

Check out the Heritage Alliances latest VAT briefing

See the Heritage Alliance latest VAT briefing just delivered to some 400 MPs asking them to think what impact this budget measure – to withdraw the zero rating for VAT on approved alterations to listed buildings – would have on their own constiuency and to bring their concners to the attention of the Treasury.

MPs briefing 9 5 12

National Churches Trust Awards Grants

The National Churches Trust - Awards grant funding to places of worship for essential structural repair projects and the installation of new facilities. Apply between 1 January and 1 September. Decisions on grants will be made in May and November. Decisions can take 6 months.

www.cibsouthandwest.org.uk

Heritage Lottery Fund opens new initiative to help local communities explore their past

The Heritage Lottery Fund has launched a new £1m small grant programme called All Our Stories to help local communities discover their past. The funding could be used for researching local historic landmarks, learning more about customs and traditions, delving into archives and finding out the origins of street and place names. Applications are open to community groups, heritage organisations and charities. Grants ranging from £3,000 to £10,000 will be made for activities from researching local historic landmarks to learning about customs and traditions. The deadline for applications is Tuesday, 31 July 2012.

For more information, please visit the All Our Stories website. http://www.hlf.org.uk/news/Pages/AllOurStories.aspx

Taking account of heritage in the highway corridor

Just attended the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs AONB Planning and Transportation Annual Seminar and gave a presentation on "Recognising, appreciating and taking account of heritage in the Highway Corridor". The event was focused on issues surrounding the rural highway as was well attended and very informative.

New CBA book on the archaeology of english battlefields published

The CBA has announced the release of our latest publication, The Archaeology of English Battlefields: Conflict in the pre-industrial landscape, Research Report no 168, by Glenn Foard and Richard Morris.

Warfare looms large in the history of every nation – every country has its Battle of Hastings or Waterloo – yet it is surprisingly difficult to identify battle sites in the landscape. Battlefield archaeology is one of the newest areas of archaeological investigation, originating in work at the Little Bighorn (USA) in 1984. Here we see the results of using these methods in the UK, including at iconic sites such as Bosworth and Towton.

This volume presents the results of the first national assessment of English battlefields. The primary written sources are complemented by the results of extensive fieldwork, computer-based terrain reconstruction, and scientific analysis of artefacts recovered from battlefields, allowing the sites of several notable battles to be located firmly for the first time.

The National Monuments Record is changing its name

English Heritage is changing the name of the National Monuments Record to the English Heritage Archive. A name that in my opinion much better reflects the range of material it holds and of course being based in Swindon its not too far away either.

First fifty volumes of Medieval Archaeology available online

In celebration of the Society for Medieval Archaeology's 50th anniversary the first fifty volumes of Medieval Archaeology have been made available in digital form.
 

Medieval Archaeology - vols. 1 - 50

Medieval Archaeology - Indexes

Search titles and authors

Medieval Britain and Ireland

The project comprises two parts; the digitised articles have been uploaded without the corresponding plates and copyrighted images, the images are to be uploaded separately in 2008. This arrangement is to ensure that organisations and individuals are alerted to the reproduction of their images and have given their permission for them to appear on the website.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2012/vat-con-4801.pdf

A few pictures from the Jubilee celebrations at Salisbury yesterday including the Medieval Hunting Exhibition

The Royal Visitors look round the South Wiltshire Tent

A Storyteller brings the Cranborne Chase alive at the South West Wiltshire Tent

A view across the jousting tents

The Medieval Hunting exhibition at the South West Wiltshire Tent

TAG 2012 Annual Conference Liverpool 17th Dec to 19th Dec

The 34th Annual Conference of the Theoretical Archaeology Group is returning to Liverpool for the first time since 1996. TAG 2012 is hosted by the School of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology at the University of Liverpool and will take place from Monday, 17 December to Wednesday, 19 December.

Our theme for TAG 2012 is “live archaeology”, and throughout the conference we shall be having a number of activities celebrating becoming an archaeologist and doing archaeology.
Submissions

The TAG 2012 Committee now welcomes proposals for sessions, individual papers and posters for the conference.

http://www.liv.ac.uk/sace/livetag/index.htm

English Heritage Angel Awards 2012 open

The search is on to find winners for this year's English Heritage Angel Awards. The annual competition was founded last year by Andrew Lloyd Webber to reward the efforts of local people in saving their heritage.

For full details on how to enter for an English Heritage Angel Award, or to nominate someone else, visit www.english-heritage.org.uk/heritageangelawards. The deadline for applications is Friday 15 June.

The ackling dyke roman road on a windy sunday

The ackling dyke roman road on a windy sunday, a photo by Emma Rouse on Flickr.

This is a great place to appreciate the archaeology of the cranborne chase from