Your Projects
Jon Bauckham learns how the residents of a former Leicestershire mining community are winning awards for their heritage work
The award-winning work of Swannington Heritage Trust
Almost every corner of Britain has a local heritage organisation of some description. From Cornwall to the Shetland Islands, countless devoted volunteers host talks, write newsletters, and carry out research into their community’s past. While all of these organisations are deserving of applause, some groups regularly go above and beyond the call of duty. And of this select few, there is perhaps no finer example than Swannington Heritage Trust ( swannington-heritage.co.uk).
Dedicated to preserving the history of a former mining village in north-west Leicestershire, the volunteer-run organisation has gone from strength to strength since its formation nearly 40 years ago.
Not only does the trust maintain an extensive physical and digital archive – an asset that has seen it awarded museum status – but it also owns several industrial heritage sites around the village, including a 200-year-old windmill and the remains of a coal-carrying railway that was designed by Robert Stephenson.
“We were originally founded in 1984 following a festival to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Leicester-to-Swannington Railway,” explains the trust’s chair Katrina Pentlow.
“As well as the Swannington Incline [a former part of the railway], we now also look after Hough Mill, along with three further sites connected to the history of mining through the ages. We acquired them not just for the community that lives here now, but for the benefit of future generations.”
The trust’s efforts have long been appreciated locally, but wider recognition was achieved earlier this year when it scooped three prizes at the Leicestershire & Rutland Heritage Awards.
Notably, this included the accolade of ‘Museum of the Year’, awarded in recognition of the trust’s resilience and planning during the pandemic.
The group also came out on top in the ‘Best Project Under £750’ category, earning praise for its 2020 exhibition ‘The Extraordinary People of Swannington’. Featuring genealogical research into local families, the display was hosted online and via information boards installed around the village.
“Thanks to social media, we were able to engage with lots of people we wouldn’t normally reach, including former residents who had long since moved away from Swannington,” explains Katrina. “On Facebook, the exhibition material was seen by 46,900 people alone.”
Completing the hat trick of awards was a prize for ‘Best Research Project’, presented to the trust for a recent study into Swannington’s child coal miners. As with material from the ‘Extraordinary People’ exhibition, the research has been uploaded to the trust’s website, where visitors can read the biographies of 19 boys who worked in local collieries.
Elsewhere on the site, tales of pubs, farms, schools and places of worship are equally well documented, while there is also a section devoted to the ongoing restoration of Hough Mill.
Indeed, one of the trust’s biggest strengths is its ability to attract volunteers with a range of skills and interests. Whether they want to work on the windmill, carry out archival research, or help maintain the trust’s 14 acres of woodlands and heathland, everyone can get involved.
“Our volunteers are amazing,” says Katrina. “Some people retire from their full-time jobs and then spend 20–40 hours per week volunteering for the trust because they are just so keen to help. I’m in awe of them.”
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