New project helps to uncover stones from past to see how Wall shaped landscape
FOR centuries, stone from Hadrian’s Wall was used to build local houses, farms, field walls, churches and castles.
Now a £1.7million National Lottery grant will help finance a Where is our Wall? project, in which volunteers will employ the latest digital and scientific techniques to help locate the stones.
As part of the Community Archaeology Project (WallCAP), communities will discover how the Wall has been used to shape the surrounding landscape.
Hadrian’s Wall has landed the lottery grant which will enable experts at Newcastle University to work with community volunteers to help protect, preserve and interpret the monument.
A number of locations are currently at risk from modern threats such as severe weather, tourism and invasive plant species, including Roman cemeteries and the Vallum earthworks.
Volunteers from along the Wall’s 135km length will be trained in skills such as digital surveying – including terrestrial laser scanning – at various sites to understand more about its condition, as well as conservation and geological work so that they can help prevent further deterioration.
Dr Rob Collins, WallCAP project manager and lecturer in archaeology at Newcastle University, said: “Hadrian’s Wall has been a vital part of our landscape for the past 1,900 years. Thanks to funding from the National Lottery, we will be able to better understand the position of the Wall in the current working landscape, and ensure that the monument will be enjoyed by future generations of local communities and visitors.”
Lottery funding of £980,600 has also gone to projects on the Antonine Wall, between the firths of Forth and Clyde, which briefly marked the northernmost point of the Roman Empire.
Ros Kerslake, chief executive of the Heritage Lottery Fund, said: “Thanks to funding from the National Lottery, what were once built as barriers will now bring communities together to explore and celebrate their shared heritage.
“The Romans left us an incredible legacy from buildings and roads to language and currency, and these internationally-important ancient monuments, and the fascinating history they tell, will be better understood and cared for by their communities well into the future.”
Meanwhile, a pilot educational programme based next to Hadrian’s Wall and targeting primary and middle schools across Northumberland and Tyne & Wear has introduced over 2,000 youngsters to the landscapes,
history and habitats of Northumberland National Park.
The Sill: National Landscape Discovery Centre Partner Schools Programme combines classroom learning with a range of workshops connected to nature, history, arts and conservation.
The sessions were delivered both in schools and within the national park and have been made possible as part of a £7.8m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund .
Rachel Baron, Sill learning officer, said: “We have some of the best landscapes and natural and cultural heritage on our doorstep in Northumberland, which should inspire and enrich our young people’s learning.”
The eight schools which took part were Branton Primary in Alnwick, Broomley First School in Stocksfield, Greenhaugh First School, Harbottle Primary School, Hawthorn Primary School in Newcastle, Hexham Middle School, Northburn Primary School in Cramlington and Shaftoe Trust Academy in Haydon Bridge.
As a result of the Partner Schools Programme, The Sill now offers a range of sessions for all schools to access. They include investigating wildlife habitats and learning about animals that live in the park, river investigations using science and studying the history and communities of the park.